A Courier's Message
by Paladin Leroy
Summary: While the savior of the Mojave wasteland wanders, reminiscing about the battle over Hoover Dam. He accidentally stumbles on an Enclave lab and gets sent to a world that has yet been scorched by nuclear fire. Will he learn from a world that seems like a utopia compared to his? Or will the heroes of this world learn from him? AN(First story I have ever written, review and comment)
1. Prologue

_(Courier 6's pov)_

"... got myself into." I said, I mean I get myself into a lot of things I never wanted to be in. This makes me think back to the Sierra Madre cassino or Big MT. But this shit storm really takes the cake." I thought, taking the sights before me and thinking back to how I got here.

( _Few hours prior)_

As I wander the wastes of the wasteland, thinking back to the battle of Hoover Dam and the success of pushing out both the legion and the NCR, creating a free and independent New Vegas. I hear creaking beneath me and I look down only to see the dust and sand sink down further into the ground. "Uh oh" I thought to myself. All of a sudden the ground drops beneath me and my legs are engulfed in sand. "Oh shit, this isn't good." I say just as the ground gives out from under me and fall into a very deep hole.

When I finally got my bearings, I looked around me, only to find i'm in a room of some room was really dark and poorly lit but I knew I was walking on solid metal. Thanks to my pip-boy I could see the flag in the background. It was not the brotherhood, the NCR or even Caesar's legion. It was an enclave flag. "Well shit." I thought to myself. After looking around I found the generator for the lab. Using my intelligence I was able to turn it on.

After returning to the lab and looking around I could see a few things. A chamber of some kind, a few smashed terminals and a perfectly fine albeit being dirty one due to my fabulous entrance. After looking around I felt like looking to see what these remnant bastards were doing and after hacking the encrypted terminal ,I was shocked and Interested In what I found.

"Dimensional rifts? What the fuck did they planned to accomplish creating this shit ?" I said aloud. "Better question, why is there nobody here?" Looking around I saw no bodies, no blood be it dry or fresh, hell not even any bullet or laser marks anywhere. "If they were making something so important, why would they abandon it ?" I thought to myself look towards the chamber in the back of the room.

Letting my natural curiosity take over for a moment, I walked towards the chamber to examine it. Looking closer I saw a few busted wires sticking out. Letting my curiosity peak once more, I re- wired it so the machine could work. Then in the span of one second, the chamber lights up and closes behind me. "Fuck me sideways." I said aloud under the sound of the machine charging up.

The life of being the a savior of the wasteland is not an easy one and it never has been. Conflict after conflict, and fight over fight brought me here than being some random courier that survived a shot to the head. My friends love me, my enemies hate and fear me. For all I know this could be the death of me. "Or it could be another adventure to tell the children i'll never have." I said with slight humor. The chamber continued to get brighter and brighter and got to the point where I had to close my eyes due to the intensity of the light. "Well shit, what have I…." I go to say before I was cut off from a flashing sound.

 _( Winston's pov)_

As Lena and I fight off Reaper and Widowmaker from the doomfist gauntlet, we were interrupted by a flash of bright light. Dazed and stunned by the light, we heard a voice say "Got myself into" I turned to Lena to see if she was okay. "Don't worry none love, I'm alright." She told me, as if she knew what I was going to say. Turning to where the light came from, I saw a man In a Duster of some sort Wearing a stetson hat and a device i've never seen before. Before I could take a closer inspection of the mystery man in front of Lena and I, we were interrupted by the sounds of gunfire.

I quickly dropped a shield and turned to Lena. "Lena, get that man to safety. We do not need civilians in the crossfire." She nodded in agreement and blinked off towards the man. I Turned back towards Reaper and Widowmaker, prepared to quickly get back into the fight.

 _( Tracer's pov)_

"Hey mystery man, I know this place looks amazing but you might want to get to safety, It's not safe here" I told him as he was looking around in amazement. "What do you mean ?" He said. I was about to reply but I was quickly silenced by him pushing me away and pulling out a black and white revolver and shooting two shots. I turned to see what he was shooting at and I was appalled on what I saw.

I saw Widowmaker holding her bleeding leg and looking at what was left of her gun in anger, shock and utter surprise before grappling away. Taking my sight away from widowmaker for a moment to look at the mystery man. He looked back to me with a smirk and said. "So what do you mean by not safe?" I looked at him in surprise. "Wha..what j..just happened ?" I stuttered out. He reaches his hand towards me and I reluctantly accept it as he brings me back on my feet. "Sorry about pushing you, didn't want a girl as pretty as you to get hurt." He tells me with a smile as I blush a little at the complement. "It's alright, I could take care of myself." I tell him.

He was about to say something but he was cut off rom Reaper yelling die over and over again as some stray gunfire nicks him on the arm and bled a little. "Sorry miss, but I need to take care of something real quick." He says to me as with a frown as he goes towards where the gunfire came from. As he leaves, I quickly think to myself "Just because he he was a good shot does not he is invincible, I should go with him to make sure he will be ok."

 _( Courier's pov)_

Whistling a song from the mojave radio, I walk up the unsuspecting man with the black hood and shotguns. As he keeps hailing gunfire towards the gorilla in some kind of armor , I pull out dinner bell and load it. I look back to the hooded man who still has yet to notice me. "Hey jackass!" I yell right behind him. He turns to look over at me, only to find my shotgun leveled at his head and me saying "Made ya look." Right before I shot him point blank in the head which definitely knocked him right on his ass. "Ya know, the funniest part was that he actually turned around for that." I say with a chuckle.

Then I hear someone saying "Lena, I thought I told you to get the civilian out of the way." But was retorted by "aww rubbish, you saw how quickly he took care of Widowmaker and Reaper." I turned around to find the cute girl with the strange device on her person, and the gorilla arguing with each other like school children.

After a moment of watching then go back and forth with each other, I whistled at them to get their attention and good enough it did. "So does anyone want clarify the specifics such as, who are you, where am I, and when am I ?" I say and both the girl and gorilla look to each other then back to me.

The girl in the flight jacket with a strange looking device on her chest steps forward and says "We love, Im Tracer, thats Winston, you're at the Overwatch museum in The U.S.A and it is June 21,2076." I look at her, then at Winston, then I look at the skylight on the ceiling saying the only thing that came to my mind. "...Fuck."


	2. What now?

_( Courier's pov)_

"...Fuck." I said after the brief moment of silence. "Why did I have to fuck with that machine?" I questioned aloud myself. Tracer gave me a concerned look and asked me "Are you alright ?" "No, no I'm alright." I said, even though I was freaking out on the inside. "Alright then ." She said, but she knew I was lying.

After I pulled myself together, I looked back to the hooded man on the floor and asked "What do we do with him? " Before anyone could say anything, we were covered with a purple gas that clouded our vision. I could hear coughing behind me. I quickly reached and grabbed Tracer and I pushed Winston out of the poisonous mist. I put Tracer down gently as she continues to cough and hack in my arms. After putting Tracer down, I pulled out my All-American assault carbine to quickly engage the assailant who threw the gas.

I aimed in only to see Widowmaker grabbing Reaper and grappling away. "Damn it ." I thought to myself. As the two hostiles disappeared from sight, I turned to Tracer and Winston to see if they were alright. "You ok ?" I asked. "We are alright and thank you for saving us." Came the reply from Winston.

I was about to say you're welcome to the big fellow,but I was yet again cut off by something. "Come out with your hands up, we have got you surrounded !" Someone yelled through, what I would have to say was some kind of speaker. "Who the hell are they ?" I asked Winston. "They are the police." He says quickly. "What are the police ?" I generally ask but Winston gives me this confused and befuddled expression. "Do you not have police where you come from ?" He asks , but I shake my head no. "Loves, now is not the time play twenty questions with each other." Tracer's voice piped in. "Yes you are right Lena, we need to get back to the watchpoint." Winston says.

Winston turns to me and says. "You seem to handle yourself well." "Yeah, and where are you going with this ?" I tell him. "How would you like to help us save the world ?" He tells me with a smile. I considered my options and they were either wander around a world I haven't even spent a day in, or I could join them to help save people and they might be able to help me get back to the Mojave. After a moment or two, I decide to join them besides, they seem friendly enough. "Eh, what the hell, not like I have anything better to do." I say.

"Excellent, I will get the dropship ready." He tells me as he puts his hand on his ear. "Athena, get the ship ready and sent to my coordinates." "Who is Athena ?" I think to myself and just as I think that, a giant ship of some sort appears above the sky light. "Well, let's get this thing moving ." Tracer says as she blinks to the ship. Winston grabs me and uses some kind of jet or jump pack to get me and him to the ship.

When we got to the ship, I told them "I am going to take a nap until we get to where we are going, wake me up ten minutes before we get there." "Alright, but we've got some questions for you mister." Tracer says with a smile. I noded and got comfortable in a chair, pulled my hat over my eyes as I started to let sleep take me.

 _(Tracer's pov)_

After my brief talk with the stranger, I walked to Winston in the pilot's seat and yelled at him in a hushed voice "Are you out of your mind, you let a complete and total stranger join us !" He turns and says to me " Sorry Lena, but he is an anomaly and what better way to keep an eye on him than rather letting him join us." As I give Winston a disapproving look as some stray hair fell on my face . He chuckles a little as I blew it away and blush a little out of embarrassment.

I took a few minutes to think about what Winston was saying, thinking it probably was best to bring the stranger with us than to let him out into the public where he could be a threat to people. "(sigh) Alright, i'm going to trust you on this." I tell him. "That's all I can ask of you Lena." Winston tells me with a smile.

I took my seat next to Winston and made sure the ship was running smoothly. Being one of the best pilots in the world and going on quite a few missions using this ship, I knew the in's and out's of this ship. I seemed to have lost track of time because the GPS says were are getting close to Watchpoint Gibraltar.

"Well I'll be off love, I'm going to wake our mystery man up and ask him some questions." I say with enthusiasm. "Alright Lena, don't be to hard on him. " Winston says to me.

After exiting the cockpit of the ship, I headed down to where our guest is sleeping. I walk towards him and say in a semi-quiet voice. "Hey love, it's time to wake up." He stirs a little, mumbling about some wasteland and someone named Ulysses. "Hey, wake up." I say to him with a bit more force compared to last time. He lifts up his hat as his eye cracks open and he asks me. "What time is it ?" "Its seven thirty right now". I reply as I look at the clock.

He readjusted his hat as he sits up in his chair and says "You said you had questions for me, right ?" "Right, and when I ask you a question, try to be as truthful as you can and if it's something personal you don't have to answer until you feel it's right." I tell him with a smile, eager to know more about the man in front of me.

"What's your name ?" I ask him. "Courier." He tells me. "No love, that's a job, what's your name ?"

"I don't have a name as far as I can tell, and if I did, that name wouldn't matter anymore." He says to me. "Why wouldn't it matter any more? If it's something personal, you don't have to tell me." I tell him in a worried tone. He got a little frustrated and he pulled out a necklace and took off his hat. "The reason I don't have a name is because I can't remember is anymore." He says a little angrily. "What do you mean you can't remember your own name?" I ask him concerned, yet intrigued.

He puts his hat next to him and uses his hand and pushes some of his hair out of the way to reveal a faded scar right on his forehead just as he holds the necklace up for me to see. The necklace was a silver or steel chain, like that used for dogtags and on the end of it was a bullet. Putting two and two together, I was shocked yet amazed that this guy survived a shot to the head and lived. "You see why I can't remember now." He said in a stiff tone.

Taking in this information in, I replied with the only thing I could say. "...I'm sorry." He put his necklace and hat back on. Our eyes caught for a moment as I stared into his deep amber eyes and he did the same looking into mine. I blushed a little as he looked down but he replied in a soft tone. "It's okay, I know it's a bit much to deal with and it's not your fault."

 **/Now arriving at Watchpoint Gibraltar/**

"Well not that I didn't like our conversation or disliked your company, but I need to talk to Winston about my place here." He tells me with a smile as he starts to head off to the cockpit to go find Winston. "He pulls off those rugged good looks better than Mccree does." I think to myself as I blush a little.

 _(Courier's pov)_

After my talk with Tracer, I went off to find Winston in the cockpit of the ship and true enough, he was there. "Hey, Winston we need to talk." I told him. "That we do Courier, that we do." He replied. "Hey, I didn't tell you my name." I said, a little put off. "Sorry about that, I was eavesdropping on your conversation with Lena." He said with a little guilt. "It's alright, just don't make it a habit." I told him. "So anyways, what did you need to talk to me about ?" He asked. "What am I going to be doing here? I don't want to walk blindly into something I may or may not be apart of." I asked truthfully. "You are going to help us bring Overwatch back together and keep the world from tearing itself apart." He said to me. "Ok, I've got another question." I said to him. "Yes, what is it ?" He replied. "Whats Overwatch ?" I asked truly interested.

"(sigh) Overwatch is an organization that fought in the first omnic crisis and kept the peace between the humans and omnics but we were later disbanded due to the petras act that made all Overwatch activity illegal." He explained to me. "I don't get it, why stop a good thing ?" I ask him. "The world decided we were not needed anymore but we are coming back because the world needs us again, whether it wants to admit it or not." He told me. "Well…. Where do we start ?" I ask him as we walk out to the docking bay of Watchpoint Gibraltar.


	3. a little test

_(courier's pov)_

Watchpoint Gibraltar. This place could put The hoover dam, Hidden valley, even all of New Vegas to shame. But, you know what the pre- war books say ,never judge a book by its cover.

As me and Winston exited the docking bay, we could see the deep blue water and a perfect view of the setting sun. The view kind of reminded me of the view you could get from the penthouse at the Lucky 38. But instead of blue waters of Gibraltar, you could only see dust, sand and the eroded buildings of the pre- war era.

"You ever get tired of the view ?" I asked Winston. "No, but we still need to address a few things Courier." He said to me. "Those things wouldn't happen to be a tour by any chance would they?" Winston just smiled. "Yes and we need to test your skills to see just how useful you are in a fight."

"A test ? This will be interesting." I thought to myself. "Well i'm going to leave the tour to our energetic eavesdropper because I need to take care of a few things." He said as he turned to take his leave.

As Winston left, I turned to find Lena on top of one of the towers. "How are you going to get down ?" She gave me a knowing smirk and said. "The same way I got up."

"The same way you got up?" I thought to myself. She jumped off the tower and I reacted quickly, prepared to catch her before she hits the ground only to see her disappear in front of me. "What the hell ?" I thought to myself.

I looked around only to find her sitting on top of one of the crates with one of the biggest smirks on her face. "How did you do that ?" Still a little confused on how she traveled a few dozen feet behind me.

"I used my chronal accelerator to blink from here to there." She told me as she pointed from where she was about to hit the ground, to where she is sitting now.

"So the device on your chest allows you to teleport ?" She just smirked. "Something like that." We stared at each other for an unbenounced amount of time before she broke the silence. "Well love, you ready to tour the base ?"

I nodded as she leapt from the crate she was sitting on. "Well let's get started shall we." I smiled "Let's ." She nodded and pointed over at the docking bay. "That is what you may have guessed as the watchpoints docking bay."

"What kinds of ships can fit in there ?" I was only answered by one word "Lots. " she simply replied. "If we go a bit forward we can head towards the medbay."

After a minute or two of walking, we reached a room that was full of beds, curtains, and a few desks. "This is the watchpoints medbay, used for when you get shot, have broken bones, or a really bad paper cut." She informed me with a bit of humor.

As I looked around, I saw a desk that was different from the others. It was bigger, had more space, and had a name tag with the name "Angela Ziegler" written in neat cursive. I turned to Tracer. "Whose desk was this ?" She looked at the desk for a moment before she answered. "That was Angela Ziegler's desk before overwatch was shut down, she was head of the medical staff."

"What was she like, i'm a it curious ?" Tracer smiled "She was one of the nicest people you could find in overwatch, If you had a problem medical wise, she could fix you right up." I looked back at the desk. "Hm, kinda reminds me of someone I know." I muttered to myself.

"Well let's continue exploring, we can go to the cafeteria next ." she told me before I nodded, ready to explore my new home for a while.

 _( A few hours later )_

"Well that's about everything you need to know about the watchpoint except for one place ." She told me as we just exited the dorms.

"What is it ?" I asked, curious to know more. "The firing range ! Where we will see just how good of a shot you are." she said, excited to see what I can do. But then again, i'm not one to disappoint, especially for a girl.

"Well let's go get Winston, we don't want him to miss the show." She looked like she was about to burst with excitement before she blinked back towards the direction in the labs.

After a minute or two, I could see Tracer draggin Winston to the firing range. "Next time Lena, you could ask instead of pulling me from my studies." Winston scolded her. She just shrugged and smiled. "It got you here didn it." She replied. Winston sighed before turning to me.

"So Courier, From what I saw, you managed to shoot Widowmaker from over seventy five feet away. Destroy her gun and physically harm her while just barely looking at her, with a handgun no less, so tell me. Was it luck or skill ?"

I replied honestly. "A bit of both." He turned to Lena and they nodded between each other. "We will see about that, wont we ?" He said, looking back to me. "What weapons are proficient with ?" "Any weapon." Was the reply. "Any weapon you say ? Well if you look at the target range, you can see that the targets are over a hundred feet away. I want you to shoot as many as you can in the shortest amount of time you can manage."

I only nodded and pulled out my ranger sequoia. "You ready ?" He asked me, his finger on the timer as I entered VATS, aiming at all of the heads of the targets.

"Yep." Was his only reply.

The only sound they could hear was a dink from the bullets hitting the targets. He stopped the timer as I just emptied my gun. "Well, lets see how you did." He said as he pushes a button for the targets start moving forward.

The look on their faces were priceless, all of the targets had a huge gaping hole right where their foreheads would be.

"Holy shit love, You did better than Mccree and he was the fastest." Was all Tracer could say, looking at the timer that read only two and a half seconds. I could only smirk, knowing I could do better than this.

"Lets try something a little harder. " Was all Winston could say as he amped up the difficulty so the targets moved at a moderately fast rate. " how bout we try something new." I say as I had a very special weapon in particular in mind.

Winston only nodded. "By all means."

I wore a grin big as the sun as I pulled out one of my favorites. The Q35- Matter modulator plasma rifle. Winston looked at my rifle in curiosity, intrigued by its design. "I'm ready." I say as I aim in with the iron sights, ready to take the first shot.

"Alright then. He said as he pressed the timer and I started shooting. The shots hit dead on but not exactly on the head of the targets, but I knew I was doing good as I took a quick look at Winston's and especially Tracer's faces.

After all of the targets were decimated. Hell, some of them were goodified. I looked at Tracer and Winston, only to see shock, amazement and fear in their eyes. "You ok?" I asked. Winston rubbed his eyes and replied. "No, no, we're good."

Tracer how ever, got out of her awestruck trance and looked at me. " You did amazing. You out did mine and Winston's expectations." I blushed a little bit, almost not noticeable because out in the Mojave, I never got this much praise for anything.

Winston looked at the clock. "Well it's around eleven thirty, it would be wise to get some rest. We have a mission tomorrow." He looked at us. "Goodnight you two." He said as he left for his room.

"A mission already, huh ?" I turned to look at Tracer only to receive a very enthusiastic nod and smile. "Yeah , we're rounding up some of our old members."

I only smiled at the beaming heroine's enthusiasm, something you could almost never find in the wasteland. "Well, if we are going to go on a mission tomorrow, we better catch some shut eye before the mission." I told her as we were walking towards the dorms.

 _(3rd person pov)_

As the Courier and heroine both made it to their assigned rooms, the two members of overwatch can only think how their mission will turn out with the savior of the Mojave at their disposal.

 **( authors note)**

 **I only continue writing on school nights, not on weekends because that is me time. I will also fix what I can when I have time. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, thanks for reveiwing and stay tuned for the next update. -Paladin Leroy**


	4. Breakfast, Briefing, and storytelling

_(courier's dream)_

I continue down the dirt path heading towards the monster of the west, wearing my old world T-51 power armor and wielding my trusted All-American assault carbine. I thought back to all the people I've killed just to get this far. "Hundreds, maybe even thousands." I muttered, even though the only ones who could hear me are dead.

When I made it to the log steps, I still continued, eager to finish the fight over the dam. As I made it to the top, he turned to look at me with those empty eyes of the mask.

"An envoy of Vegas, yet you carry yourself for battle. If so, you cannot 'truly' be of that city of cowards." I stared into the eyes of his mask as he stared into the visor of my helmet.

"What, Caesar giving you orders from the grave?" I asked with a cocky attitude, not caring who I was talking to.

I could feel the pure hatred in his eyes, even though I couldn't see them. "Caesar's will is the will of the legion, and the west… All beneath the flag of the great bear exist to test the strength of the legion. The west shall fall as the east fell, and all the tribes that stretch to the setting sun shall bear the mark of the legion."

We stared at each other for an unknown amount of time before I spoke again, breaking the silence. "I'm here to kill you. The Legion's advances end here."

His posture changed . "Enough words, then. Let our strength settle this." he spoke to me again as not an enemy, but a rival.

He pulled out his bumper sword as I got ready for one hell of a fight, just as the world faded to black.

 _(Real world, Courier's pov)_

I woke up startled, yet not sweating or shaking. I looked around, trying to remember where I am untill it all came back to me.

I looked at my pip-boy right as the clock just turned to five AM, the normal time for me to wake up. "Well, time to get ready." I got up and started heading to the door.

 _(One hour later, Tracer's pov)_

I groggily woke up ,reaching for that insufferable alarm clock. After the I hit the snooze button, I sat back down. "I wonder how the mission will turn out with the Courier with us ?" I thought to myself.

I got out of bed, and started stretching to get the kinks out of my tired muscles and joints. When I finished, I started heading to the bathroom ready to start the day.

 _(Twenty minutes later)_

I got my jacket and chronal accelerator back on, remembering I can't have it off for more than twelve hours at most. Making sure the chronal accelerator was fastened on rightly, left my room and started walking to the cafeteria.

A soon as I entered the room, I was struck by a delicious smell. I continued past the tables and chairs to find the source of that mouth watering smell.

I got to the kitchen, only to find Courier cooking what looked like two omelets. I tried to get a closer look but Courier saw me.

"If you wanted to see what I was doing, you only needed to ask." he told me as he just finished putting the omelets on the plates next to the stove.

"Well, would you look at that. You can shoot and cook." I joke in a friendly fashion. "Well where I come from, you need to know how to hunt, cook and shoot to survive." He told me as he handed me a plate with an omelet on it.

"What's this ?" he only smiled as he walked right past me. "Breakfast, you better be careful because it's hot."

We got to a table and set our food down. When I took a first bite, I was a little put off by the unfamiliar taste. The taste wasn't bad or displeasing, infact it was rather good.

"What's is this ?" I asked after swallowing the first bite. He only chuckled at my confused expression before he replied. "That, was a wasteland omelet, a rather famous dish where I come from."

"Wasteland omelet, weird name for a weird dish is guess." I thought as I took another bite of the great tasting food.

We continued to eat in silence or that was before Winston walked in. "Hello Lena, Courier."

"Hello love ." I said to Winston as the the Courier tipped his stetson as his greeting.

"Hey Winston, I left you a fruit salad in the fridge on the right." Courier told Winston as he sat up and left to the kitchen, finished with his omelet.

Winston smiled and nodded to Courier, grateful he didn't have to fix his own food.

After a minute or two, Winston came back with a big mixing bowl full of perfectly cut fruit. He sat down next to me.

"So Lena, ready to start the day ?" He Winston asked me, with sluggishness in his voice. "Yeah, we get to save the day !" I exclamated with enthusiasm, thinking about the old days when the team back together.

 _(Courier's pov)_

After I finished washing the dishes, I walked back into the main room with Winston and Tracer. Winston turned to see me walking back to the table and taking a seat. "Okay, now that Courier is here, we can start mission briefing."

I nodded and listened. "We are going to Stuttgart because there have reported attacks by Jamison Fawkes and Mako Rutledge or otherwise known as Junk rat and Roadhog. Junk rat uses a specially designed frag launcher with shoots small explosive grenade projectiles, he also carries landmines, bear traps and tire which explodes on impact after its motor has been set off.

Roadhog on the other hand, carries a scrap gun that uses scrap metal as its ammunition and can go from semiautomatic to full auto. Also be very aware that he carries a large meat hook with a chain on it so he can grab and will pull you within range of his scrap gun if you get too close These two are effective at causing chaos and we believe they have been recently been working for Talon." Before we get ready, there is something else to point out, Reinhardt has been seen in Stuttgart, this means if we find him, we could get him to join us."

"We are leaving in fifteen minutes, go get your equipment and meet me by the docking bay." Winston told us as we started going our separate ways to get ready for the mission.

 _(fifteen minutes later)_

I got myself into one of the seats on the spacious dropship, thinking about what might come. Would we be too late to catch Junk Rat and Roadhog ? Would who ever this Reinhardt be willing to join us ?

I was torn from my thoughts by Tracer taking a seat next to me. "So, earlier you said that where you come from, you need to know how to hunt, cook and shoot to survive. Where is that ?"

I looked at her before replying. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

She grinned . "Try me ."

"Well, just because you asked so nicely, I just might." I said, teasing her a little bit for my own amusement. She frowned a little, almost not noticeable, but I saw it.

"All right, all right, I'll tell you. (sigh) Just don't freak out when I do, ok ?" I tell her, remembering the great war that destroyed my country.

"What do you mean by 'don't freak out' ?" she questioned me.

I'll get to that, just don't interrupt me until i'm done, ok ?" I asked as she only nodded her head in agreement.

"Ok, on the year 2077, my country or the U.S.A, was at war with China. China invaded and attacked out of desperation but we pushed them back to their country. We nearly won the war, they nuked us. All of our accomplishments, all of our victories, all of our sacrifice, just gone in the blink of an eye. Some people escaped the nuclear blast to fallout shelters, or otherwise known as vaults."

She just looked at me, sadness and sorrow in her eyes "Well at least some managed to survive. There's a plus, right ?" She asked me with some uncertainty in her voice. "Oh how wrong could you be." I bitterly thought to myself before I continued.

"No, it only got worse. The vaults we believed to be so safe turned out to be fucking social experiments for humans. Each of them, designed with different experiments to test. After a couple dozen decades later, the people of the vaults emerged, only to see the waste of the country that was America. The buildings were destroyed, the vegetation burned, and the animals mutated in ways no one would have ever thought imaginable. Many years latter, the people started to rebuild, creating settlements, governments, and the like."

She smiled a little, happy that the people were starting to recover from the devastation they never deserved.

"Now that is where I come in. You see, I come from a place called the Mojave wasteland, a place covered in so many monsters and crooked people that would make you skin crawl. A place that bears the scars of a two hundred year old war that we never recovered from."

Tracer stared at me with a questioning gaze. "Where is the Mojave wasteland and where do you fit in all of this ?"

"The Mojave wasteland is the area around New Vegas, or what you would normally call Vegas. Now me ? Where do I fit in this little hellhole ? Well let me tell you, I'm the king of New Vegas, I'm the messiah of the wasteland, the conqueror of the Divide, I am the savior of the Mojave." I say with a bit of pride in my voice.

She gave me a cheeky grin. "So how did this savior of the wild wasteland end up here to begin with ?"

I looked at her with a straight face. "Do I detect sarcasm ?"

Her grin only grew as she continued. "No oh great savior of the Mojave."

I continued to look at her with the straightest face I could muster as she started chuckling a little nervously. "Ha ha, uh no hard feelings right ?"

I looked at her a little longer before I spoke. "Water under the bridge."

"Okay, but as I asked before. How did you end up here ?" she asked as she wore a smile again.

"It was a complete and total fuck up on my part because I chose to fuck with things I should have never, ever fucked with." I tell her with the utmost honesty.

She gave me a surprised look. "So, what you're saying is that you got here by accident from a completely different world with separate time lines."

"Yeah, you see I was wandering the wasteland when all of a sudden the ground gives out from under me and I end up in this old lab in a Enclave bunker. So me, being the adventurer that I am, started exploring. After looking for the generator for the bunker and turning the power back on, I went back to the lab to see what they were working on."

She made gestures with her hand, wanting me to continue my story.

"I found out that they were building a machine that could potentially rip a hole in dimensions and allow people to pass through it. I don't know why they built it but anyways, I let my curiosity get the best of me so I took a look at the machine. What I noticed was that the machine had a few busted wires loose so I decided to fix that. Next thing I know the machine closes on me and I am getting engulfed in a bright light. So poof, here I am. You satisfied yet ?" I asked, starting to get annoyed with telling these damn stories.

"Yeah I have questions but those can be for later. I need to check up with Winston." She says as she gets up from her seat.

After she left, I too got up from my seat and walked to the window. The sight I got from the window was something you would never get from the wasteland. I could see lush green fields of unkempt grass. I felt rigid as I muttered the only thing that came to mind. "So much life."

"Yeah, there sure is." Someone says, breaking me out of my trance.

I looked to find Winston and Tracer standing behind me. Both looking out the window, gazing upon the same view I saw.

When the ship landed in the forest by the fields, I could see the tall buildings and skyscrapers off in the distance.

"You ready loves ?" Tracer asked as she got her guns ready.

I pulled my survivalist's rifle out as I thought just one thing.

"Like she even needed to ask."

 **Sorry I'm updating so late. I got sick and I was a little behind on school work. But hey, I got another chapter done. Anyways, remember to comment and review and I will eventually go back to fix mistakes in past chapters when I have free time. -paladin Leroy**


	5. The first mission (part one)

_(courier's pov)_

It has been around an hour since we left the ship and started walking to the buildings in the distance. As the fields end grew closer, the buildings became larger. As we continued walking, I stumbled on something.

I looked down and I saw the remains of a machine, or more specifically an automaton. On closer inspection, I saw It had a gun attached to its right arm.

"What in the hell ?" I thought to myself as I looked at the bullet ridden chassis and smashed head.

I looked at Tracer and Winston, still both walking to the objective. I looked back at the robot. "It is probably best I leave this for now but ask about this later." I thought as I got up and started to follow Tracer and Winston again.

 _(Fifteen minutes later Winston's pov)_

When we got to the city, we hid in one of the alleys in the city to make sure nobody saw us.

"We finally made it, so now we should split up and search different parts of the city. So stick to the rooftops and observe from above, we do not want to cause a scene." I tell Lena and Courier as they nod in agreement.

"Well if we are doing that, we should stay in touch just incase we do find them." Courier said to me.

"I was about to get to that." I pulled out three ear pieces and I hand two of them to Courier and Lena.

Courier took the earpiece and inspected it. "What's this ?"

"It's an earpiece so we can communicate to each other. It runs on a encrypted comm channel so nobody will be listening in on our conversations." I tell him as Lena and I put ours on and he continues to inspect it.

After a few seconds he hums in approval and puts his on. "Well, as you said before we should split up."

"Yes, I will take the downtown district. Lena, you will take the financial district. Courier, you will go with Lena. I want you two to report anything you find. If you do find them, do not engage and wait for backup."

Courier looks to Lena with a smug grin "Lead the way."

Lena just rolls her eyes and blinks to the rooftop. "Come on you slow poke, we've got a mission to do."

He just sighs and starts to climb the fire escape. "Kids these days." I mutter to myself as I started to make my way to the rooftops that will eventually take me to downtown.

 _(Courier's pov)_

After I got up the fire escape, I started to make my way to where Lena was sitting. "Slowpoke my ass, you just blinked to the top." I teller in an exasperated tone.

Tracer just chuckles at my expense. "All's fair in love and war. But anyways ,back to the mission. "

I scowl at her. "Right, back to the mission. So where do we go ?"

She gets up and points to the big buildings off in the distance. "You see those big buildings over there, that is where we are heading."

I look at the buildings before I look around for a way to travel across the rooftops. "Well, let's get a move on then."

 _(A twenty minutes later)_

When we got to a moderately high rooftop that has a relatively good view of the district. I pull out a pair of binoculars "We should get situated so here, you should take this." I tell her as I hand her the binoculars.

She mouthed a thank you before she asked. "Well how are you going to see ?"

I pulled out my gobi campaign scout rifle. "This is how, so don't you worry."

She looked at me perplexed. "Where did that come from exactly ?"

I looked away and started aiming down towards the district, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. "It came from my pip-boy or more specifically the device on my arm."

She began to look down onto the street and began to search. "So that's what that thing is called. So how does your gun fit in you pip-boy ?"

I keep looking but I don't find anything yet. "There is a storage system on my pip-boy so it is more easy to carry almost anything I need."

"So anything huh, is there a limit on how much you can carry ?"

I was about to answer but I heard a very faint smashing noise. I looked around on the street to see some a few civilians hurt and bleeding.

"Courier ?" Tracer tries but I ignore her and look closer at the civilians. There was glass all around them and the only place it could have come from was up.

"Hey Courier, you alright ?" She tries again but I still ignore her and I looked up with my rifle. I saw a smashed window near the top of the building and even further up, I could see an old man hanging from a chain and two people ziplining from a rope. One was considerably more fatter than the other.

"Hey Tracer, you should look up." I tell her and just as she does, the whole building next to us explodes.

The force of the explosion knocks me and Tracer to the ground as the Whole area shakes and trembles. Besides the constant ringing in my ears, I could barely hear the screams of terror from the civilians down below.

"Ugh fuck." I grunt to myself as I pulled myself to my feet, still a little disoriented from the blast.

I look down to where Tracer is at. She was on her knees with her hands on her ears, probably still ringing from the explosion.

I walk to her and shake her to try and get her atencion. "Hey Tracer, pull yourself together."

She turns and looks at me. "What did you say ?"

I just look at her before I asked her one simple question. "Can you hear me ?"

She looks at me in confusion. "What are you saying ?"

I just sigh as I pull out one of my many stimpacks and inject one in her neck.

To say she flipped the fuck out was an understatement, she punched me in the face and blinked backwards holding one of her pistols pointed at me. One hand on her neck, right where I injected the stimpack.

I put up my hands to make sure she didn't think I was doing anything. "Can you hear me ?"

She still looks pissed. "Yeah, I can and what in the bloody hell did you just give me ?"

I slowly get up and put my arms at my sides. "The only thing keeping you from being deaf and I will explain what it is, but right now is not the time to talk. We need to contact Winston and catch ourselves some bad guys."

She lowers her weapon and sighs in frustration. "Alright, but you better be ready for a long talk about jabbing people with syringes that's been who knows where."

I nod and call in Winston. "Hey Winston, are you seeing this ?"

"Yeah i'm seeing it, so many poor people." Was the reply.

"I saw Roadhog and Junk rat ziplining to the building a few blocks east of where we are at, we are going to try and cut them off. We can't let them escape, not ater this."

"No, remember what I told you. Do not engage, I will rondavue with you two shortly at the building." Winston said to us.

His answer made me very angry. "You know what, fuck you orders right now. Those two just killed hundreds of innocent people and I am not going to sit idly with my thumb up my ass, thinking about what could have been !" I yell at him as I start to make my way down the building.

"Courier, dont do it. Wait for…." He never got to finish before I stuck my earpiece in my pocket of my pants.

Before I left out of Tracers view, I turned to her. "Hey, want to help me get those two fucks ? I don't care if you do or don't, I just thought I would be nice and ask."

She still had that shocked and bemused expression on her face before she grew a big grin. "Are you asking me out ? Why Courier, I never thought you felt that way."

I looked at her with a blank face before I continued to make my way down to the streets.

When I neared the bottom I heard Tracer at the top of the building. "Hey, wait for me !"

I watched as she just jumped from a couple storrie tall building and land right on her feet. Faintly covered with the glowing blue aura before it dissipated.

I turn away and start sprinting to the building Roadhog and Junk rat were ziplining to. "Come on Tracer, we still got a fatass and a jackass to catch !"

 _(Unknown pov)_

I watched the news as the building burned and rubble fell.

My blood boiled from the sight. The fact that I cou- no, SHOULD have done something made me even more angry but how dare they ! They come to my city, my home and slaughter hundreds.

I look away from the screen and down to my shaking hands. Turning red from how hard I was clenching them.

I look back at the screen and I saw something, something blue. "What Is that ?"

I looked even closer and it was in fact Lena Oxton. "So we really are getting recalled back to overwatch."

I grew a big smile on my face as I got up from my chair and started to make my way to the back of the room.

"For honor and glory, I will restart my crusade."

 **Hey I got another chapter done, I am trying to make the chapters as long as possible without trying to make too many mistakes. Well anyways, thanks for reading. Please comment and review. -Paladin Leroy**


	6. The first mission (part two)

_(courier's pov)_

After wading through the hundreds of terrified civilians, Tracer and I made it to the front door of the building that our mass murderers escaped to.

"Tracer, go to the elevators ! We need to get to the top of the building !" I yelled back, trying to be louder than the creaming people.

"You got it !" Was the reply, barely audible over the people.

Pushing the running people out of the way, left and right to just try and get to the stairs in the back of the building.

As we were trying to get to the stairs, a woman in what looked to be her mid thirties grabbed me. "Please help me !"

From the sound of her voice, she sounded terrified and there were tears running down her face.

"Mam, whats wrong ?"

She cries even more. "I lost my son, please help me !"

"She must have lost him in all of this panic." I thought to myself before I shook her and got her to look at me. "Mam, I will get your son but I need you to get to a safe place !"

She hugs me very tightly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you !"

I grab her arms and pull her off me. It's ok mam but please give me a picture of your son or at least tell me what he looks like ."

She nods and pulls out her purse and hands me a picture of what was a boy that looked to be around four or five years old. "The last time I saw him, was on the 78th floor, please find him."

I pocket the picture and point to the door. "All right, I will get your son but I need you to get out of here now !"

I turn back and head straight into the stairs.

 _(Tracer's pov)_

After making it to the elevator, I pressed the button to call it but nothing happened.

"Damn, it doesnt work. Well, time for plan B." I thought to myself as I pried the doors to the elevator enough so I could squeeze through.

As soon as I got through, the doors quickly slam shut behind me. I look at the ceiling for the release for the hatch on top.

"There it is." I thought to myself and reached for it and pulled down and pushed the hatch up.

I blinked up onto the top of the elevator shaft.

I looked into the empty elevator shaft. (sigh) "now for the hard part."

 _(Courier's pov)_

"Dam, that was a lot of stairs." I thought to myself as I just reached the 78th floor.

I stop for a moment to catch my breath. "Ok let's do this."

I pull out Maria and burst through the doors, looking through the office complex.

I move from office to office hopping I could find this kid before Junk rat and Roadhog get away. But then again, I saw some police "choppers" as Tracer called them.

Skimming past through the many offices, I just barely saw something.

I take a few steps back to see what I saw and to my reluctance, it was the boy from the pictures and he was scared as hell.

I slowly approach him while he shakes from under the desk, hiding some of his face in his arms. "Hey are you ok ?"

He slowly looks up at me and tries to move backwards even more under the desk even though there is no more room left.

I stop and put my gun away. "Hey i'm not going to hurt you, I'm going to get you out of

Here and back to your mother." I tell him slowly and softly, hoping it would help calm him down.

He still looks scared, but not as much as he was before. "You're going to help me get to mommy ?" He asks me in a young German accent.

I smile at him. "Yes, I promised your mother I would and I don't go back on promises."

He slowly crawled from under the desk and looked at me. "Where is mommy ?"

I picked him up and put him on my back as he held on tightly. "She is outside, It was too dangerous for her so she asked me to get you out safe and sound."

I start to head towards the stairs but something came through before I could get there.

I took cover behind one of the office dividers to see what came through. Seven men in black armed with combat armor and rifles and other equipment I haven't seen before.

"All right men, search and secure the floor. No survivors."

I looked at the kid on my back and whispered. "Alright, be ready to cover your ears because things are about to get loud."

I pulled out a flashbang and redrawn maria. I armed the flashbang and threw it at the armed men.

"What was tha.." He began before he was cut off by the flashing sound.

"Time to face the music."

I burst out of cover quickly and aimed with my gun. I managed to fire off four shots, each hitting the desired area on the face of the helmets.

The men dropped dead, bleeding from their eye sockets. "Wait, one, two, three, four, weren't there seven ?"

I reloaded Maria and looked around but I kept my back to the wall to keep the kid safe.

I started to move to the stairs door slowly as to not draw any unwanted attention if the other three don't know where I was.

"There they are ! Kill them !"

I quickly sprint to the stairs, dodging most of the shots…. most of them.

I get to the stairs and start sprinting down but before I left, I dropped three packs of C4 plastic explosives, just out of sight so they can't see it.

I run down the stairs and pull out the detonator. But I listen for them to come out and into the stairwell,

True to my initial thought, they came to the stairs look down to see me with the detonator.

"Howdy."

I press the detonator and I could hear, no feel the explosion. Even Though I was a couple flights down.

I continued to move down the stairs but I just needed to make sure of something.

"You good kid ?"

I just noticed he was shaking with fear. "Hey, Hey don't be afraid. I'm not going to let the bad men hurt you."

That still didn't settle his nerves. Not. One. Bit.

We finally made it down the stairs and I could see the police vehicles outside. 

I quickly ran outside and sprinted to the police barricade down a couple blocks. I reached back pulled him off my back and into my arms. "Ok kid, I want you to run straight to the police. They will get you to your mom, ok ?"

I put him on the ground and watched him start running and make it to the police who took care of him from there.

I turned around,ran back into the building and back into the stairwell.

"I'm getting tired of there goddamn stairs."

 _(Winston's pov, a few minutes earlier )_

….Backup.

"He must have taken off the earpiece." I thought to myself.

I started to run, jump from rooftop to rooftop. "I can't let those two go alone, assuming Lena is going with Courier in which she probably is."

Whist I was going from rooftop to rooftop, I could see a familiar place in the distance. Perhaps, I could make a small detour.

 _(Tracer's pov)_

Bloody hell, that took longer than I expected. I thought to myself as I started to pry open the doors just enough and squeezed through.

I took a moment to stop and catch my breath, after all. This is a very big building.

I fell to my knees, panting for breath after the first hundred times I jumped, climbed and blinked to every ledge, wire and door I could get my hands on.

When I could breath normally I pushed myself up and off my knees and pulled my pulse pistols out.

As soon as I took a step, the door to the stairs flew open. I held my pistols aimed at the door only to see Courier come through.

I looked at him dazed. "What took you so long love ?"

"I would have been here sooner but I had to make a quick stop, but anywho. You ready ?" He told me, pointing at the stairs that make it to the roof of the building.

I now looked at him skeptically. "What, you getting sleepy ?"

He just rolls his eyes at me. "Lets just get a move on."

 **Sorry that it took me so long to get this chapter up. I was caught up in a few thing going on. Be sure to rate and comment because it will help me do a better job a writing. Thanks for reading. -Paladin Leroy**


	7. The first mission (finale)

_(Courier's pov)_

After meeting up with Tracer, I felt a short pain in my right side. I stopped and looked to see what hurts.

I looked and I saw a lot of red all over my duster and one hole too. I looked back at Tracer then back to the hole.

"Tracer, stop for a moment please. I need to do something."

She stopped and turned back to me.

"Something wrong love?"

"Yeah, something is wrong." I lift up my arm a little, just enough for her to see my bleeding wound.

She immediately stood frozen before she relaxed and calmed down. "How did that happen?"

"Must have happened when I was rescuing a kid from earlier, some talon soldiers came to the floor we were on to wipe out anyone still in the building."

"What ki ?"

"I will tell you about it later, but now I am bleeding out so just give me a second."

I pull up my pip-boy to look for one of my many stimpacks.

"Here we go." I take the stimpack out and ease the needle into my bleeding side.

She looked at what I was doing. "Is that the thing you jabbed in my neck earlier?"

I pull the needle out and I feel the wound closing up. 'Yeah, it heals about anything. Though, if the wound is bad enough, it will leave a scar."

"Interesting, I bet Angela would have liked to have a look at those."

"Yeah, I'm sure she would have but let's get a move on. We don't have all day."

I pull my survivalist's rifle out and we start to run straight to the roof.

When we got to the top, we took cover on either sides of the door.

"Ok, I have a few flashbangs on me right now. So that means you need to charge in as soon as you hear the flash."

She pulls out her pistols. "You got it."

I grab a flashbang out of my inventory and pull the pin.

"You ready? One,two, three."

I open the door slightly, just enough for me to toss it through the crack of the door and out onto the roof.

"What the-"

Whoever was speaking was cut off from the flash and us breaching through the door.

I see some talon agents rubbing their eyes, not really aware of what is going on.

I aim and swiftly put a few 12.7mm rounds into the heads of the soldiers.

After they drop dead, I run to the nearest air vents for cover. Protecting myself against the hail of laser fire.

I pull out a new magazine and dropout the near empty one so I could put the fresh one in.

I turned to look at Tracer and as far as I can tell, she seems to be doing alright. Considering the fact she is dogging all of their shots and blinking around them.

"You know how unfair that is, right?"

She blinks to me behind the cover and twirls her pistols. "Yeah, people say that a lot."

She blinks back to where she originally was, but this time she was shooting back at the enemy.

I look back at the enemy, I aim my rifle again. "Tch, tourist."

I take out soldier after soldier, shot after shot, dropping them one by one until all we could see are the two fucks we were after.

While we had this brief moment of silence, I was thinking of every possible way I could kill or torture them… Until the skinny piece of shit began to speak. "Oi, you blokes killed everyone."

I gave them a sadistic look before I spoke. "Yeah, you're next."

As soon as I started firing, all hell broke loose between the four of us. Explosions, pulse shots, scrap metal and bullet casings were flying and dropping everywhere.

Still my bloodlust still craving more I felt like getting up close and personal, I pulled out pushy and ran straight at those two.

"Courier, what are you doing !" Tracer yelled at me, suppressing fire against Roadhog and Junk rat.

I was rolling, jumping and dodging as much as I could and I eventually was up close and personal with these murderers.

I punch Roadhog to send him on his ass and a good few feet away from me and Junk rat. I jump out of the way of a bouncing grenade and run at him next so I could give him a few good licks with my fist.

I lunge at him and began beating him with the hand that pushy wasnt on. I was hitting him so hard and fast, I managed to draw blood after the first two hits.

I was about to land another one but I was hooked in my gut and it was in DEEP. But that didn't stop me.

I grab the chain of the hook and pull Roadhog over to me and hit him in the face of his mask. While he was knocked on his ass again, I grab the hook that was still and painfuly logged in my gut and pull it out.

I jab a stimpack in my torso and I yell loud enough for Tracer to hear. "Tracer, deal with Junk rat !" I got me a pig to slaughter !"

I walk over to Roadhog who was trying to get his bearings, starting to lean up from his spot from the ground.

Seeing this, I run and kick Roadhog in the face and knock him down again. I put away push and pull out something much, much scarier than a repulsion fist.

He looked up again to look at me again, but he couldn't see much. But I suppose having a rotating minigun barrel right in his face didn't help much.

Holding my cz57 avenger in his face, I only spoke two simple words.

"Howdy fucker."

He tried to hit me again with his hook, I raised my right hand and it got lodged in my hand. Sticking all the way through. It hurt,but it is better than having it lodged in my head.

Having only one hand on the gun, It was still spinning in his face but was scraping against his mask. I made sure he watched as I pulled the hook out with my teeth, grabbing the chain and pulling it out the way it came in.

My hand was gushing blood, but I didn't care. I put my hand back on the trigger of the cz57 avenger and was ready to fire. "Funny how the name of the weapon is being used exactly how the name implies." I think to myself.

Before a bullet gets shot out. I heard the sound of screeching to my right. I turn to look and I saw what was a "tire" coming right at me.

The tire exploded right in my face and sent my ass right on the edge of the building. Before I could fall off, I pulled out my blood nap bowie knife and stab it right into the building. Hanging from the embedded knife.

I could faintly hear someone shouting my name. Faintly over the ringing in my ears.

Blood was dripping off my face and all over my duster. I felt weak, probably from blood loss, maybe a concussion coming on. Who knows at this point.

I start to feel myself start to slip off my knife but before I fell, I felt someone grab me.

Things were starting to black out for me, but now, all I could see was an orange visor.

 _(Tracer's pov)_

"COURIER !" I yelled as I watch him fall off the ledge of the building.

I looked over at Junk rat who was smirking at his hand work. I felt a burning rage coming on.

I put my pistols away and blink to Junk rat. I began to beat him senseless. Every hit drawing more and more blood than the last.

I was about get another hit but I was grabbed and thrown across the roof top. I realigned myself so I didn't hit head first on to the roof.

I slid on my feet across the rooftop and I looked at Junk rat and Roadhog. I quickly redraw mt pulse pistols and began firing away.

They took cover and started shooting back at me. I run and jump to cover as well, staying out of their sights.

I could hear a rumbling sound off in the distance and growing louder by the second.

"Well It appears that our ride is here." He spoke breaking the silence.

"You know, we were going to leave all simple and easy like. But no, you just had to antagonize us. I mean you don't see us killing your people do you- well besides that, what was it, Courier fella right?"

I felt my teeth grit hearing that name from his mouth, it really ticked me off. "You don't even get that right to say that name !"

"Right Courier, yeah. Reaper was talking bout him earlier, and the look on Widowmakers face was priceless when we learned her gun was destroyed by him with what she said was a pistol. Well anyways, what was I talking about again… Oh yeah I remember we were going to- OH SHITE!"

I hear another rumbling sound. I turn to see what it was and I saw something, or rather someone standing outside of the overwatch dropship.

It was reinhardt, standing fully armored with his rocket hammer. He raises it in the air and shouts. "For honor and glory !"

He jumped and charged Junk rat, Roadhog, and the newly arrived talon soldiers. Crushing all who gets in his way.

"Lena, come on and get to the ship !" I look to see Winston beckoning me to the ship.

I get out of cover and trip, I look down to see som scrap stuck in my leg. I look back to Winston who notices and runs over to help me.

Winston grabs me and puts me on his back, carrying me to the dropship. After getting inside, he sets me in a chair and begins tending to my leg.

He pulls out the piece of scrap and patches the wound up. I look at the wound and think back to Courier's wounds, how his were far worse than mine. I started to feel the guilt of not being able to help him when he needed me. I felt that Winston need to know about what happened.

"Wi- Winston?"

"What?"

"Me and Courier were fighting Roadhog and Junk rat, he told me to deal with Junk rat while he deals with Roadhog. I was fighting him but he threw down a concussion mine and stunned me. He- he started up his tire and sent it at Courier and Courier. He- He…"

"He's ok, If you look over there. He is healing up." Winston tells me as he points to Courier who was laying down on the table, knocked out, covered with bandages and with an IV tube hooked up with his arm.

I felt… Relieved to see Courier is still alive. But I was saddened to see him in such a state, a state I let happen.

"Ok I'm no Mercy, but I patched up your leg until we can get back to the Watchpoint."

I was broke out of my gaze and look at Winston then back outside. I start to get up but Winston stopped me.

"Lena, I need you to take it easy. Reinhardt and I got this, so get some rest. We won't be long."

Winston picked up hise tesla-cannon and runs outside to face the enemy. I slowly started to feel tired and lean back in my chair. Now I am having difficulties keeping my eyes open.

"Maybe some sleep would be alright ." I thought to myself before I fell asleep.

 _(Reinhardt's pov)_

Each of the soldiers fell under the mighty blow of my hammer. I got closer to the talon ship where the two mass murderers went.

I was close but the talon soldiers began to fall back to the ship. I was angered by these cowards, these honorless bastards !

I launched a fire strike against the ship but doing no damage to the hull. I growled in my frustrations, I felt someone shaking me. I turn to look at Winston who grabbed my arm.

"There will be another day so save your anger for then, not now."

I turn back to where they left. "(sigh) I suppose you're right, old friend. Let's get back to the Watchpoint."

Me and Winston turn back to the ship, ready to go home.

 **Sorry for the wait guys and gals, I was busy again with more things. I have tons of things to do BUT I will keep updating this story and when I have time, I will go back and edit the past chapters. Thanks for reading this chapter, comment and rate so I can do a better job at writing- Paladin Leroy**


	8. Emotions and tales

_(Tracer's pov)_

I sat there, waiting and watching for Courier to move. I don't know how long I've been sitting here waiting, but it felt like hours.

(sigh) "Good going Lena, you had one simple task and you blew it. What is Courier going to think ?"

I look away from him for a moment to look at the time and true to my thoughts, I have been here for hours because it was 11:30 PM.

Three and a half hours of watching Courier, waiting for any sign of him being ok.

I turn to look back at him, still covered in bandages, scars and cuts all over. There are so many scars on his arms that it's almost unrealistic.

I reach down to see if they were real because no man I have ever met has ever this many scars. Not Reinhardt, not Mcree, not even Jack Morrison or Gabriele Reyes had this many. This was only on just his arm too and that's scary.

I feel the faded skin on my fingertips and my eyes widen. The scar was most likely a big gash once. It scaled all the way down to his forearm until it reached the back of his hand.

"Holy shit." I muttered to myself. I start to feel myself trailing on his arm, counting every scar I touched. I was about to reach another scar until a hand all of a sudden grabs my arm.

"AHHHHH." I took a second to breathe before I yell at Courier for scaring me. But then again, I had this coming.

I look at Courier who had that smug smile on his face. After a moment of silence, he spoke.

"Is it normal for you to touch people when they get hurt because if it is, I'm not complaining."

I felt my cheeks grow warm. "N-no, it's not normal."

Courier tries to lean up but he has some difficulties due to the amount of shrapnel Winston had to pull out of his torso and the the hook the Road hog lodged in his gut. I grab his right arm and put my hand on his back and start to lean him up gently so he can sit up.

He turned and looked at me. "Thanks and how long I was out because all I remember was getting blown off a building before I blacked out."

I look away from Courier and I shift my gaze to the floor. "You have been here for hours, Reinhardt pulled you off the building before you fell."

I still did not look at him when I spoke, I failed him. I started to get out of my chair until I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, no need to be blue because of what happened to me. I fine and I don't blame you for what happened."

I started to look at back to him, concern apparent on his face. "But it's my fault, I let Junkrat get past me. I should have done more because I almost got you killed because I wasn't trying hard enough."

He took his hand from my shoulder. "Tracer, let me tell you something about me."

I blushed a little as he leaned up a little more, showing off more of his scars. As well as his very well toned torso and biceps.

" I am more durable than you give me credit for, you think this is the worst I've ever gotten hurt. This, this is child's play because I have been shot, stabbed, beat, crushed, stung, poisoned and I have broken many bones while walking for days straight without sleep or stopping."

Im appalled at his will to live and survive in a world so distorted it's not funny. And he read my look off my face like a book he understood.

"I want you to understand that I can take anything Talon can throw at me and more. So don't beat yourself up over me getting hurt, ok ?"

I nod slowly, taking this information in. I decided to say the only thing I can think of for now. "I'm still sorry for letting you down though."

Courier waves his hand down. "Water under the bridge, ok ?"

I I look at him dead in the eyes. "How can you just forgive me just like that. I just don't get it."

He looks at his hands. "Simple, it's the only thing I can do right now. Being angry at you wouldn't get us anywhere and besides, you're too cute to be angry at."

I immediately froze, not daring to even breath right now. "Y-you think I'm cute ?"

He looked back at me. "Yeah, I do. Why, nobody ever told you that ?"

I look away from him, making sure to not make eye contact with him. "Y-yeah, but nobody was ever up front about it."

He put his right hand up to get my attention. "Hey, i'm just teasing you, ok."

I felt a bit disheartened. "Your.. just teasing me ?"

He put his hand down. "Yeah, is something wrong ?"

I put up a forced blank face and lied. "Yeah, I'm alright. No need to worry."

I felt hurt but I don't know why ? Maybe I'm hungry, I haven't eaten since breakfast. Actually, now that I think of it. I am feeling a tad bit peckish.

I was pulled back to Courier snapping his fingers in my face. "Hey, you good ? You look a bit out of it."

I shake my head and you at him and put up a small smile. "I'm ok."

Courier smiled back. "Well that's good, but anyways. What were you doing feeling up my arm ?"

I pointed at his scarred arm. I blushed a tiny but, hopefully not noticeable. "I only did that because you have so many scars and I wanted to see if they were real."

"Well ya know, there is a saying out in the wasteland, 'Every scar tells a tale'. And believe me when I say my scars are real."

He lifts up the arm I was touching. "You see the big one right here, the one that goes down my forearm."

I nod "Yeah, what exactly did that?"

"A deathclaw did it, a very, very pissed deathclaw." He says as he traces along the scar made by a "deathclaw"

"Whats a deathclaw?"

"A deathclaw, well those fuckers are some of the most dangerous monsters out in the wasteland. Try and imagine a ten foot reptile with curved horns, hands bigger than your torso, and razor sharp claws that can cut metal like it's tissue paper."

I imagine it and it looks a little intimidating, and this is only from getting a picture in my head.

Well, while I was looking for someone in a place called the Divide, there was this broken pipe gushing water and behind it, there was a cave.

I grew confused. "A cave, why would you go into a cave?"

He rolls his eyes at me. "Out in the wasteland, you need to scavenge to survive. That is a top priority out there because you never know if you could find weapons, armor, food, water, etcetera and etcetera.

I think to myself for a moment and I do suppose scavenging is a must in a post-apocalyptic U.S.A, I guess you would never really know what you could find out there.

"Well anyways, we are getting off track from my little adventure out in the Divide. So when I got in the cave I came across a duffle bag and a holotape."

"Holotape?"

He hits his hands against the bed. "Jesus Christ girl, let me finish my damn story." I immediately put my hands up for angering Courier.

"A holotape is my words version of what you people call a disk or a 'CD' . Now don't interrupt again please, i'm trying to tell you a story"

I nod. "Please continue, I want to hear how this happened."

"Now, where was I ?" He puts his hand on his head trying to think. "Oh yeah I remember, I entered the cave and I found a holotape. As soon as I picked it up, the entrance to the cave collapsed behind me. Well after that, I woke one of the biggest deathclaws I have ever seen and I was scared shitless when I saw that fucker running at me."

I continued to listen intently to his story, getting comfortable in my seat.

"That monster moved faster than I could draw a weapon and got me good in the arm. And let me tell you when I say this scar was him just grazing me with his middle claw."

Just grazing, that scar is fucking HUGE. I would hate to see what is left of someone after a fully fledged blow from this thing.

"After I took a few stimpacks, I made as much distance between me and it. Dodging every blow this thing swung at me, I was able to draw my alien blaster after a failed lunge at me and got a few hits with it too."

Alien blaster ? The bloody hell is that ? I swear Courier is chocked full of stories and tales from his world.

"After the first five shots, I got its attention again and it was very pissed. He lunged again but he didn't hit me, he did however knock me down on the ground. He started to lumber over to me and he raised his claw to kill me. The jokes on him because I still had my blaster out and I managed to hit him in the sweet spot on his neck. And thus, I blew that things head clean off its shoulders."

"After I killed him, I decided to reap the rewards and so I crafted this." He pulled out some hand/claw gauntlet thing that was from something you would see on a monster. Well since the story's over, I can ask some questions.

I point to the gauntlet. "Is that from.."

"Yeah, it's the claw of Rawr, the deathclaw that gave me this nasty scar. Personally, the scar is worth it if it meant I got this out of that fight."

I looked at the claw that could rip through people like butter, the claws themselves look a little faded and worn but that doesn't mean it isn't still razor sharp.

"Well, that was fun. Telling about myself isn't something I do normally, I only tell special people about my adventures and tales out there in the Mojave wasteland. Who knows, I might tell you about my adventure of the Sierra Madre casino and hotel."

I looked at him quizzically. "What do you mean by special people ?"

He pulls up his pip-boy and pull out a stimpack and injects it in the side of his abdomen.. "The people I trust to watch my back out there in the Mojave. The people I can count on to be there when I need it most."

I felt a little happy knowing that Courier trusted me to know somethings he wouldn't tell people normally. But I don't know why ?

"So I fall under the special people list right ? But why, you barely know me ?"

He starts to remove the bandages of his torso. "Call it a hunch, I don't have anyone with me I can really trust right now but I feel like you can be one of them in due time. Plus, you want to help people and that's good enough for me."

He gets up and starts to put his duster back on. In the middle of doing so, there was a audible rumble coming from him. "Well, I feel hungry. Care to join me for a midnight meal ?"

I also feel the pain from the lack of food in my stomach. "Well, i've got nothing better to do. So why not love."

He smiles as he puts his hat back on his head, right where it belongs. "Well come on, I feel like cooking right now and I might teach you a thing or two about wasteland cooking."

I feel a little selfish about having Courier cook for us, but I'm quite curious on what he knows from the wasteland on cooking.

 _ **Hey guys and gals, thank you for reading this chapter. I'm trying a few new things in this story and I hope you guys like this. Also review and comment because it helps me do a better job at writing this story.- Paladin Leroy**_


	9. Food, Friends and frustrations

_(Courier's_ __ _pov)_

I groan as the first beam of sunlight reaches my eyes, intense enough to disturb me from my sleep.

"Damn sun, never lets me sleep in. not here or the Mojave."

I sit up and stretch, hearing the sound of my bones popping and cracking. I open my eyes and pull up my pip-boy.

"Seven thirty, I don't think i've ever slept in this long before."

I grab my duster and my hat, walking towards the bathroom. I get in and shut the door, getting ready to clean all the muck and gunk from yesterday.

 _Ten minutes latter_

I looked at my duster and stenson, but more specifically at the new holes and tears added to the old ones. Still, my clothes have been in far worse condition. I slipped my duster and hat on, feeling the worn cloth and faded leather still fitting like a glove.

With everything in place, I guess it's time to see the rest of the team then. I walked to the door and opened it. I made it to the corridor filled with many rooms, but I only took three steps down the hallway.

I looked at the room that was across from mine. "Maybe just a peek to see if she's awake."

I walk backwards to the room in front of mine, I grasp the doorknob and turn it slowly. Just in case I don't wake her if she's still sleeping.

The door is cracked open ever so slightly and I peek in, I see a room filled with posters, a couple plane models similar to the pictures at the Nellis Air Force base but still different. I also see a big flag hanging up on her wall that I believed to be the Union Jack flag or the U.K's national flag.

Even though the room was filled with things, there was no Tracer to be found.

I step back and shut the door the same way I opened it. " I guess she's with the others."

I walk through the corridor and outside. I stopped for a minute to look at the crashing waters and expansive sea, reflecting the light from the morning sun. It still was and will be a better view than the one from the lucky 38.

I look back and start heading to the cafeteria to get some food to start the day.

I walked past the firing range, gym, and medical ward before I got to the cafeteria.

I looked around and saw absolutely nobody, I was kind of hoping that I would see someone but I ignore the feeling. My stomach is more important right now.

I walk to the kitchen and to the stove, I was about to pull some things from my inventory to cook but I saw something.

I walked over to the note sticking to the fridge and read it.

 _ **Courier, thanks for the food last night. What did you call it, brahman steaks, ? Well anyways, I felt a little bit guilty for having you cook for me. ESPECIALLY after you got hurt yesterday, I'm still sorry for that. Well I decided to make you something, I hope you like it. ~ Lena**_

I look away from the note and at the stove where I cooked last night. "You didn't have to do that Tracer, I don't deserve it."

I looked back at the note and saw there was more writing.

 _ **P.S. Winston, Reinhardt and I are in the lab after your done. Also I figured that you didn't have microwaves out in that bloody wasteland so I put instructions on how to reheat the food on the back, see you soon love ! ~ Lena**_

I finished reading the note and realized something.

"The fucks a microwave ?"

I put the note down and open the fridge and what I saw made my mouth salivate just from the looks. It was bacon and eggs on a plate covered with seran wrap, and it looked great to.

I pulled the plate out and put it on the counter, I then grabbed the seran wrap and pull it off. I pick up the note and flip it so I can read the instructions for reheating the food.

After thoroughly reading it, I look around for a metal box with a window and controls on the side that is supposed to be sitting on the counter. I scan the counter and I see something that matches the description. I grab the plate and walk over to what I think is the "microwave" and I press the blank button and the front opened up for me to put the plate inside.

I put the plate inside, close the front and press the numbers 3 and 0. I look back at the not reading it again making sure I did this right. I look back to the microwave and press the start button.

I instantly see the machine light up and I can hear the bacon start sizzling inside. I walk over to a drawer and pull out a fork and knife. As I shut the drawer, I was startled by a beeping noise and I turn back to the microwave.

I see the lights are off so I guess it's done reheating. I press the button that opens it up and I am instantly greeted by the smell of cooked bacon and fried eggs. I grab the now warm plate and my silverware and go find a seat to eat this delicious meal.

 _Twenty minutes later_

After I cleaned the plate and silverware, I started heading to the lab to meet up with Tracer and my other allies.

After reaching the entrance to the lab, I could hear voices in the silence that has been going on this morning.

I walk in and see Tracer, Winston and this "Reinhardt" person conversing among themselves. None of them realizing that I'm here yet. I feel now it's time to announce my arrival.

"Howdy folks, sorry I'm late. I slept in longer than I should have."

They all turn and see me standing in the doorway to the lab. Two of them saying hello and the third jumping up and giving me a bone crushing hug.

"Love your heart finally, did you get my note ?"

I look a little lower and smile, seeing messy brown hair. I wrap my arms around her, telling her the hug is appreciated even though I did not say anything.

"I did Tracer, and it was great though you didn't have to make me anything. "

Tracer pulls out of the hug and looks at me quizzically." What do you mean, of course I had to. You made me food two times in a row and I haven't done a single thing to earn it."

I look away from her. "Believe me when I say I don't deserve it, I have done terrible things to many people. Both being good and bad, I don't feel like i've earned it."

"Hey, don't feel bad about it. I understand, I mean we KILL people to keep the world from tearing itself apart. We are all guilty in some way, we just have to cope with it ."

I still don't look at her. "R-right, cope with it…."

She placered her hand on my shoulder and forced my gaze up, giving me a reassuring smile. "Hey, don't worry too much. We can talk about this latter when you feel ready, ok ?"

She let go of my shoulder and grabbed my arm, pulling me forward. "Well anyways, there is someone I wanted you to meet."

She stopped bumped me with her elbow. Guess that's a sign for me to look up. I look up and I see a man with a thick grey beard and hair, and he is ripped from head to toe in muscles and scars. Though he doesn't have as many as I do. I could also see he is at a work bench, working on some large armour and what looks like a super sledge on buffout.

We were just staring each other down for an unknown amount of time, he decided to break the silence first.

"So you must be this Courier that Lena has been telling me about, "Savior of the Mojave" from her words."

I still look at him unintimidated by his appearance, I have seen and stared down scarier things out in the wasteland than him.

"Yeah, names Courier. You must be Reinhardt, I've heard a little bit about you from these two." I point my thumb behind me, indicating the two other people behind me.

"Aye, you do not look to be intimidated by my appearance. Why is that ?"

I lift my gaze up a little higher to look right in his eyes. "I've seen scarier and bigger things in my travels out in the Mojave and places elsewhere, just because you bigger than me doesn't mean that i'm spooked because of it."

He cracks a smile and raises his hand indicating I should shake it, I raise my hand and grasp his. I shake it lightly but I keep the grip tight enough for him to know I'm stronger than I appear to be. "Quite the grip."

He starts chuckling a little and looks over to Tracer and Winston. "Hey Lena, Winston, you two sure know how to pick em I tell you."

Winston starts laughing a little. "You have no idea, I mean he was shot, cut, blown up and stabbed by a meat hook. Courier here sures knows how to take a beating and keep going."

Winston stops for a second and looks at me. "Now that I remember. Courier, I need to talk to you about yesterday's mission. Not now but later."

I nod, letting him know that I understand.

Winston smiles a little. "Good, now anyways. Everybody listen for a moment, we need to talk about our next assignment."

Tracer grabs and office chair and wheeled herself over to us and Reinhardt just flips his chair around. I just stand still but still listen to what our next assignment is.

"Alright everyone, I recently just hacked on of the U.N. satellites and I recently got a few of our other members positions and a handful of candidates who could become new recruits ."

Tracer scoots herself a little closer to Winston. "So who did you find love ?"

Winston straightens himself out a little. "I found Genji, Angela and few other people who could join us but we will cross that bridge when we get there. So for now, we will focus on our older members first."

Reinhardt decided to put his two cents in. "Wait, what about Torbjorn, Mcree and the others ?"

"Some of them are enroute to us here at Gibraltar, the others well….."

Winston looks down a little. "(sigh) Some of them are dead already."

Reinhardt stood up from his chair with a somewhat surprised, saddened and angered look on his face. "How ? We were some of the best. Overwatch members don't just roll over and drop dead."

I could see the hesitation in Winston's eyes, weighing which option would be worse on telling him or keeping the truth for now. But he decided by biting the bullet by saying the three words that I don't think Reinhardt will ever forget.

"It was Talon."

I watched the workbench go flying across the room as I could practically feel the anger from Reinhardt, and sadness from Tracer and Winston rolling off them. I now feel some regret for not being able to do anything to really help them.

Reinhardt's growling grew louder after every second and nobody dared to say something while he voiced his frustrations. "Those HEATHENS ! Those pathetic ingrates, how dare they kill our friends, our family ! When I get my hands on those who hurt us, I WILL MAKE THEM ALL PAY !"

I Guess I'm the only one who has the guts to say something to him right now. "Reinhardt, calm down. I know it's bad but we can't lose our heads right now."

He looked at me with a intense glare. "What do you suppose I should do then ? Just sit here idly and wait for them to come for me so I can avenge our fallen. No I think not."

I give him an unamused look. "That is not what I'm saying."

He took a step towards me. "Then what are you saying then ?"

I also take a step forward and give him a glare that could rival his. "What I'm saying is that you're letting your anger cloud your mind, you need to calm down right now !"

I take a step back and take a second to breathe and vent my frustrations before I spoke. "Ok, I get where you're coming from right now ok. I really do, but being angry is not the answer right now."

From what I could see right now, he backed off a little bit and calmed down. Not saying anything, just listening to what I'm saying.

I could see the shocked looks on the other two's faces right now. I see Tracer's shocked look turn into a grin, happy I got through to him.

I look back to Reinhardt. "Right now I second what Winston said, we need to get the old members of Overwatch before Talon tries something. Along the way, we will pick up recruits to help us fight talon because just the handful of us and the other aren't enough to take on Talon."

He grabs his chair and pulls it up and sits down. "Alright Courier, I see I was letting my anger get in the way. I apologize for that, but how are we going to do this ?"

I nod and turn to the big gorilla in the room. "Thats his job because I'm still getting used to this."

Winston looks away and goes to the big computer he was typing at before my intrusion and begins putting something in. Alright, we need to move quick and decisive. "We can't let Talon know what we're up to because that would only create more problems for us."

He finishes typing and a map of the globe pops up on the screen. "Alright, we have a few locations on where we could start. It's just a matter of who to go after first."

We all gather around and look at the map. I then look between Tracer and Reinhardt. I look back to the map.

"Where do we start first ?"

 **Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up guys. I had a blackout at my house and it screwed my computer up because of it. But don't worry, I got my computer fixed and I got another got another chapter posted. Remember to comment and review so I can do a better job. -Paladin Leroy**


	10. Another tale for an ape

_(Courier's pov)_

"Where do we start?"

Winston stared at the map for a moment, looking between Gibraltar and a country called Switzerland.

He stopped and looked back to us. "I think we should start in Switzerland and go find Mercy."

Tracer grew a grin bigger than what i've seen from her so far and Reinhardt, he just smiled and nodded in approval to Winston's idea. But Whose Mercy?

"Hey Winston, I'm afraid i'm out of the loop right now because I don't know who Mercy is."

Winston looked at me and was about to speak but he was instantly cut off from the energetic girl next to me that I could swear was just bouncing in place.

"Mercy is Angela Ziegler, the head doctor and one of the best field medics in Overwatch."

I look at the map and the list of names. She apparently is the closest and I also wouldn't mind having another pair of hands who are familiar in the medical field.

I look back to Winston. "I'm all for it Winston. Besides, I wouldn't mind meeting her."

Winston nodded. "Good, now what do you say Lena?"

Winston turned slightly to look at the still smiling Tracer. "Yeah, let's go get Mercy back loves !"

Winston starts to smile a little bit. "Alright, you Reinhardt?"

Reinhardt stands up from his chair. "We should go find Angela, it has been a while since I've seen her."

Winston nods and goes over to the computer and starts typing. "Alright everyone, our next objective is to go get Mercy. We will start the mission and go over the specifics tomorrow at six o'clock sharp."

Reinhardt collected his things and left to do his work elsewhere but Tracer, she was about to leave but she turned back around. "Hey Courier, do you think you could meet me in the docking bay? I could always use the extra help with the ship."

I shook my head. "Yeah I will but Winston needed to talk to me for a minute, so see you in a few."

Tracer smiled, turned around and left. I looked to Winston who was still typing away on the computer. "So you wanted to talk to me?"

He finished typing and turned around to look at me. "Yes, I need to speak to you about a few things Courier."

I crossed my arms. "And those things would be…?"

Winston straighten his glasses out before he begins his lecture.

"First I want to talk about your performance yesterday. It was unneeded, you went after them out of revenge for the people they killed, not for the sake of the mission. You also went in there with no plan and nearly got yourself killed because of it. I'm actually surprised your still alive, let alone stand and talk. You also brought Lena into this and got her hurt."

My heart stopped for a moment. "Wait, Tracer got hurt?"

Winston put an unamused face on. "Yes, she hurt her leg from a piece of scrap Roadhog shot. But that wouldn't have happened if she wasn't there to begin with."

I look down for a moment but I look back up at Winston. "I'm sorry ok? Where I'm from, I would kill anyone, ANYONE who would kill innocents that never deserved what happened to them like what happened Stuttgart. I have no excuse for what happened to Tracer and I will make it up to her somehow, alright ?"

Winston takes his glasses off and rubs his eyes. "BUT, there was a silver lining out of your outburst. You managed to draw Reinhardt's attention so he was more easier to convince to help us and you managed to delay them long enough for us to arrive even though we didn't get them. You are a valuable player in this fight between us and Talon because I've never seen anyone who has taken as much damage as you have and walk it off the next day like its nothing."

I felt myself start to grin a little through my lecture. "Well, I hope you get used to it because I have a habit of doing that alot."

Winston puts his glasses back on and begins to type on the computer again, pulling up multiple pictures of what looked to be my skeleton, organs, and brain wave chart. "This is another thing I wanted to talk about, your biology is very different to a normal persons it's astounding. I mean, you don't have a real spine for god's sake ! Would you care to explain this to me?"

I grab the chair Reinhardt was using and sit in it, ready to be here for a while. "I'm not sure you'll understand."

Winston sits down. "Then explain it until I do."

I put my hands up for a moment and back down to my sides. "Alright, where do you want to start?"

WInston points to the picture of my prosthetic heart, spine and section of my brain. "Let's start with this."

"My prosthetics? Well, those were when I traveled to the Big Empty when I was out in the Mojave a few months back. "

Winston looked at me quizzically. "The Big Empty, What is that?"

"The Big Empty is one of my eccentric travels among my time out in the wasteland I called home. It was originally called BIG Mountain but after the bombs fell in 2077, it's less mountain and more crater now."

Winston grew a little impatient. "Could you get to the part where you got your prosthetics?"

I leaned back and straightened myself out before I continued. "BIG Mountain was the home of some of the brightest minds of the 20th century, containing all of their research and secrets all over the facility. Well, one day. Your happy go lucky Courier came across a crashed but still functioning satellite in one of the old world drive ins. I decided to examine it before anyone did anything to it because finding a satellite in the Mojave is one thing, but a still functioning satellite is another."

Winston made a rolling gesture with his hand, wanting me to continue. "Well, when I touched it. I was surrounded by some sort of force field, I couldn't move or do anything for that matter. Well after a few seconds, I was engulfed in a bright light that was similar to the way I got here. When I could see, I felt a stab of pain along my back, chest, and scalp. When I felt where the pain was coming from, I found recent scars that weren't there before I touched the satellite."

Winston looked a little concerned for a moment. "What happened to your organs then ?"

I chuckled a little, thinking back to my first encounter with the brains of BIG Mountain. "Well it gets stranger, I did find my organs and the people who took them but they are a bit different than one who expect for an organ thief. Imagine floating brains in a jar with monitors for eyes and a mouth."

Winston looked at me confused. "Floating brains, in jars?"

I laughed a little. "Yeah, I didn't expect it too. But with all the crap that happens in the wasteland, I should have learned to expect the unexpected."

I regained my composure but I still maintained a smirk on my face. "Yeah, after a little talk between them and I. I found out that they tried to lobotomize me while I was knocked out from the Force field that brought me there."

Winston instantly put his hands up, signaling for me to stop. "Wait, wait, wait, they tried to lobotomized you ?"

I nod. "Yeah, they tried but they messed up even though they managed to remove my heart, spine and brain in one operation."

Winston now looked even more confused than before. "Wait, they removed your brain ? Then how did you even talk, walk or even get up to do anything? Without your brain, you could not, SHOULD NOT, be able to do anything. Its simply not logical."

I shrug at Winston's question before I think back when I was there. "They said something along the lines of my brain still somehow sending my body messages, even though I had no brain. Also, don't ask how that works because I barely understand it myself."

"Hold it for a second, we're getting off track from my story."

Winston stopped thinking out in space and looked back at me again. "Ok, during my talk with the brains. They told me that , a rouge brain who threatened the think tank which is the place where the brains reside. Had my brain after it was extracted from my body, so they said I need to retrieve lost technology so I could gain access to the forbidden zone which was where Mobius was. So after our conservation, I went after some of the lost inventions that were out in the Big Empty to defeat . Well after I got all the lost experiments, I confronted Mobius who sent dozens and dozens of robo-scorpions to kill me."

Winston still trying to understand my story, decided to ask another question. "Whats a robo-scorpion ?"

I lift my hand and hold it above the ground, around the height of a robo-scorpion. "Giant robot scorpions that were around yay big, now stop interrupting my story. I swear you're just as bad as Tracer when I tell em."

Winston nods, remaining silent until I was finished with my tale from the wastes.

"Well, when I got to Mobius. He, well he also wasn't what I expected for a brain who wanted to kill me. He was an old scientist who was under the influence of psycho, a drug that increases the the section of your brain that allows you to feel emotions. Particularly anger, so it makes you act a little feral so you do more damage to the enemy in your blind anger."

Winston looked a little intrigued at the prospect of a drug that made troops go a little ape shit on their enemies. "When I was speaking to him. He told me that my brain might not want to come back with me so that meant I had to have a little one on one conversation with my brain. Lets just say it was one of the strangest chats I've ever had to this day but luckily, I convinced my brain to come back with me."

The look on Winston's face told me he could understand why it was one of the strangest conversations I've had so far. "When I got back to the Think Tank, installed my brain again and I talked with the brains again. While talking with them, I lied and told them I was because he told me that they were going to hijack my body and go experiment on the creatures and people of the Mojave. They believed my little white lie and they still remain at the Think Tank to this day."

Winston decided now was a good time to ask questions. "So, after your adventure you kept the prosthetics the brains gave you. Why, did they work better than your original heart and spine ?"

I smiled and stood up from my chair. "Yep, the spine increased my strength and the heart made me immune to poisons and venoms."

I looked at the clock and started to walk towards the door, but WInston wasn't done with the questions yet. "Wait Courier, I still need to go over a handful of other things."

I still kept walking away. "Sorry Winston, but I've got to see Tracer. I promise I will answer the rest of your questions the next time it comes up."

Winston got up from his seat on the floor and walked to the computer for the dozenth time today. "Alright Courier, but you better answer the rest of my questions next time we discuss this."

I turn a little and tip my hat to Winston. "Will do."

 _(Ten minutes later)_

After walking to the docking bay I'm immediately greeted by the sound of power tools and other mechanical noises.

I walk a little further in and the sounds grew a little louder, I kept walking forward until I came across everybody's favorite heroine forking on the dropship. She stopped and turned to me with a look of glee apparent on her face.

"Courier, you're finally here ! What took you so long?"

I strode over to her." I was telling Winston one of my adventures."

She giggled a little and walked away from the ship and to me. "You told him one of your famous 'Courier tales' huh?"

I was soon directly right in front of her. Yeah I was, sorry it took longer than expected. But now that I'm here, what do you need help with?"

She grinned a bit more and grabbed my hand, guiding me to where she was working.

 **Hey guys and gals, I got another chapter up and going. SO remember to comment and review so I can do better at writing chapters and it was a comment from one of the comments from the viewers that caused me to go for Mercy first. See you guys in the next chapter. -Paladin Leroy**


	11. emotions and a Tracer tale

_(Courier's pov)_

Tracer and I walk over to the dropship, parts missing in some areas. Some exposed on the floors and work bench for what I assumed for latter repairs. I also see schematics to the ship, each for different things like the engine, cockpit, and other areas of the ship I have yet to understand. Perhaps she can teach me a thing or two.

She stops guiding me and motions for me to look where she was working. "So, do you know anything about air crafts?"

I look closer at the exposed components and disconnected parts. "Yeah, I've seen and worked a little on aircrafts . Maybe not as much as you have, but i've done a little here and there. "

She cocks her head a little and smiles. "What kind of aircrafts?"

I roll my shoulders a bit, getting the strain out a little. I've worked with VTOLs or in other words vertibirds, other than that there's nothing much.

She kneels and picks a few of the schematics, spreading them out so they are less obscured. "Come here, I want to show you something."

I kneel next to her. "Are these the schematics to the dropship ?"

She rolls her eyes. "Yeah, how did you know because I would have never figured it out."

I look at her with a poker face. "Quit the sarcasm while you're ahead because it won't get you anywhere."

She shakes her head and chuckles a little. "What makes you say that ?"

I deepen my poker face a little. "I get enough of that shit from the wasteland, so just stop before I kill something."

She cracks her trademark grin. "Sounds like my kind of people."

I start to smile a little. "So you're kind of people are murderers, drug addicts and thieves. That's cool to know, guess I should stay away then."

She hits my arm, not hard enough to hurt but enough to feel it. "Hey, you know what I meant and I thought you were all sarcasmed out ?"

I smile a little more. "Yeah I'm sarcasmed out when other people do it but not when I do it. Though I could make an exception for you."

She put a hand on her chronal accelerator and made a mock gasp. "You made an exception for me, oh I feel more special."

I was now the one rolling their eyes. "Yeah but dony push it, I don't want to retract my already great generosity."

She puts her hand on the bridge of her nose and starts to chuckle again. "Well as funny as this was, were getting off track so let's get back to it then yeah ?"

I nod and look at the floor, read the designs for the dropship. The design and ideas for the ship were genius, but I could see a few parts here and there that could use a few changes or modifications. I decided to voice my thoughts. "Tracer, these designs are genius. My word would have probably never came up with it if the world didn't go to hell, I mean the energy this thing uses is off the charts from the look of these schematics. What the hell does this thing run off of ?"

She picks up a few tools and scoots over to the ship. "It runs off of fusion energy."

My heart stopped for a second. "Wait, Fusion energy ? Are you saying this thing has a FUCKING fusion reactor in it ! I mean, do you even know what happens when that energy has nowhere to go. I mean we're talking about a 800 kiloton explosion, possibly even bigger it the reactor melts down."

She puts down the tool she was just working with. "Hey, hey, hey, calm down alright. The reactor won't melt down because it is self sustained. We also have special equipment to deal with it if it does become a problem."

I calm down a little but I did not savor the fact that there was a reactor that could melt down and take Gibraltar, part of Spain and Morocco with us.

Tracer went back to her work again and I went back to reading the paper and I've finally go a grasp on how some of the ship works, particularly the part Tracer is working on. I put the paper schematics down and walk over to tracer with a tool in hand.

I stand next to her and began to work on the side of the ship close to the dropship door. I start to see the problem and began to rectify it. While I was working, Tracer glanced at me. A bemused look on her face. "You read it that fast ? Wow, It took me weeks to get the hang of this but you got it in minutes. Im very impressed and a little jealous at the same time."

I continued working on removing some of the scrap and burnt pieces embedded within the armour plates and interior mechanisms while also repairing it. But, I did not stop our conversation. "Well, I'm a quick study and adapter. I've been tested to my limits and hardened against the worst of the worst, so I yeah. I believe I've got the hang of this."

After my reply, we kept working on our parts of the ship. Fixing it bit by bit but all things must come to an end, even this dreadful silence.

"Courier ?"

I pull a piece of scrap out and drop it to the floor like the rest. "Yeah?"

She stops for a moment and turns to me. "Why do you always call me Tracer and not Lena?"

I stopped working and stand there for a second. (sigh) "I believed I haven't earned it yet, I also don't know if you even wanted me to call you Lena because I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable."

She still looked at me through my amber eyes and me through her light brown hazel ones. "You have earned it, I've listened to the stories you've told me and I've watched how you act. I know when somebody is good and I know when somebody is bad. I think you are a good guy, your just misunderstood. Just viewed as something other than what you wanted to be, trust me when I say I have been where you have been before."

I feel like I still haven't earned it, not yet. Possibly in the near future, I will tell her about my greatest mistake. What I did to the Divide.

She put down her tools, finisher with what she started when I came in. "Courier, I understand that you feel guilty about something. But sometimes we don't deserve things but we get them anyway. (sigh) Look, when I killed my first person I felt guilty, I felt sad, I felt I did the one thing I never wanted to do. I was called a hero, it put me where I am now. I still regret it but it helped the world become a better place because if I don't do it, somebody else will and I refuse to put this burden on anyone else. Nobody deserves this life. Nobody."

I felt her presence grow closer, eventually I felt her leaning her head on my shoulder and her arms around my waist. Hugs were uncommon for me, uncommon but not unwelcome.

I look down and grab her arms, making her let go of me. I look up at her with a sorrowful face, trying to bleak out all the faces of the ones I've killed and the ones who didn't deserve to die. Be it by my hands or anothers. "You have no idea how good you have it Lena, you have truly no idea what I've been through and what I've done. You have to kill ever rarely while I have to kill every day out in the wastes, just to survive in a world viewed as a savior when I just wanted to be a man. Where I just wanted to be me, to be viewed as another human being and not some higher being better than the common man. That is all I want in life, that is all I want."

I let go go of her arms, letting my arms fall limp at my sides. As my hand fell, I felt her grab it and hold it gently in a soft grip. She looked up at me. "Courier, if you stay with us. You just maybe, Maybe have a life you can really call your own. A life you can appreciate and not despise and question your actions just because it was necessary. When we defeat Talon and save the world from the omnic crisis, we can all stop fighting. We can all live our lives the way we want it, but that won't happen unless you help us…... Unless you help me, Ok?"

I grin a little in this dramatic moment. "You say it as if I was going to leave. Why, you getting tired of me already?"

I saw her smile now. "Why of course not, besides. You can fix things, cook, tells stories and kick ass. Why would anyone turn that down?"

I chuckle a little at that. "Well, you're not wrong about that and sorry for dumping some of my melodramatic emotions on you. I guess spending time with you is starting to open me up more."

I see her smile turn into a mischievous grin. "Guess that means we should spend more time together then."

Now I feel my grief and regret fade away by looking at her smile. "Well I for one, do not oppose that idea."

She noded. "Good because I like hanging with ya."

I turned around and went back to working on the dropship. "So I've told you a bit about myself and my world, could you tell me about yourself because I don't want to be the only one who tells stories."

I feel the ecstatic energy radiating off her while I continue to make repairs. "What do you want to know?"

I pull out another shard of scrap. "Whatever you want to tell me, but the best place to start is where your from and how did you get here?"

She looked a bit sheepish talking about herself. "Well, I am from London England in the U.K. I am twenty six years old and my favorite color is orange."

I turn to her. "Fruit?"

She shook her head. "Sunset."

I nodded. "Well don't stop there, keep going."

She rubed her arms as if it were cold in here. "I signed up for the royal air force, I always had a fascination with flying. I spent months with them, learning and doing. I ran over dozens of combat assignments and missions, each one done with the utmost success. I was running up the ranks faster than anyone and one day, I became one of the best of the best when it came to flying. when I was up there I was untouchable, I was practically invincible."

She walked over and leaned against the ship. "How I got in overwatch is by getting hand picked for an experiment, to test a ship called the slipstream."

Slipstream? I continue to work but that didn't stop the question from rolling out my mouth. "The slipstream, what did it do?"

She looked blank, like she was reliving something she didn't want to remember. "The slipstream was a ship that was able to teleport forward, backwards, left, right and any direction you want it to. It could do this because it took energy from time stream and moved it through the present like how I do."

I listened intently. "So that teleporting thing you do is really you moving forward and backward in time?"

She looked a little down. "Yeah."

I finish up fixing my part of the ship and place the armor plating back on and secure it tightly how the schematics described. "So you got your powers through this 'slipstream' ship you flew. What happened to make you this way?"

She looked like she was having goosebumps all over while she spoke. "When I went to test it, it.. Malfunctioned. The ship disappeared and I went with it."

I pick up the tools, parts and schematics and put them on the workbench. "Where did you go? Because if you were dead, you obviously wouldn't be here."

She moves herself from the ship and starts to walk near the door. "I was sent through time, going forward and backwards. Because of that experiment, I was desynchronized from time and without the chronal accelerator, I would be all over the time line."

She stopped in the door. "You coming? The sun is setting and I wouldn't mind watching it with someone."

I follow her in tow to the edge of Watchpoint Gibraltar, where we could see a perfect view of the sunset. We sit down next to each other and watch it slowly start to disappear over the horizon. We continue to watch, but I felt something on my arm. I look at her, leaning up against me while watching. I look back and watch with her, for however long the sun light allows us to see it.

 **Hello everyone and thank you for reading this chapter. When I was writing, I felt I was treading on thin ice with my experimentation in this chapter. Sorry it took another day to do this but hey, I finished it ! That's all that matters to me right now. Well guys, have a good thanksgiving. -Paladin Leroy**


	12. Sleep, dream, Breakfast, and company

_(Courier's pov)_

The light was dying, every second was growing darker as the sun fell and the night rises. Still sitting on the edge with Lena, watching as day turned to night. Looking at the light slipping through the cracks of the mountains and horizons, looking at the reflecting light from the vast waters of Gibraltar.

When the sun finally disappeared and the light faded, we sat there for what may have been hours. I looked back to the girl resting against me. From the looks of things, she must have fallen asleep right next to me. I feel a bit jealous, I could never sleep that fast because I was always plagued by stray thoughts and unwanted memories.

I start to get up from our spot on the ledge, making sure she didn't wake up while I get up. I stand up and pick her up, I'm not going to leave her out here in the cold and dark. I hold her bridal style as she unconsciously gets comfortable in my arms. I start to walk to the dorms while keeping my steps soft and quiet.

I get to the door to her room and I slowly open it similar like how I did this morning. I walk to the bed and slowly lay her down. I then grab a blanket and pull it over her, letting her get comfortable. I turn around slowly and walk to the door, letting myself out. I step in the doorway, I take a final look at her for the night.

"...Cute."

I walk out the door and close it quietly. I walk to the door that leads to my room, ready to turn in for the night. Besides, we've all got a mission tomorrow.

 _(Tracer's pov)_

I felt myself get layed down onto something that if I had to guess was my bed. I soon felt a blanket get laid over me, keeping me warm. I couldn't hear his voice but his footsteps, getting farther away from the bed and to the door. The footsteps stop and I heard him mutter one word.

"...Cute."

I could feel the heat rushing to my face as I crack one eye, looking at the door only to see him walk out and close it quietly. How thoughtful of him to take me to my room and lay me in bed. And how thoughtful of him to call me cute, I now could feel that I was starting to slip and actually fall asleep. Thinking of Courier and the rest of us of what could and would be in the future. Maybe, possibly, our future. But that couldn't happen right?...

 _(Courier's dream)_

I use the elevator and go down to the sub-level. The doors open and i'm greeted to a poor lit room full of steam and pipes, a terminal and a lone pod further down the walkway. I get out the elevator and walk down the walkway, heading to the terminal. I turn it on and use it, opening the pod that held the shriveled body of the once great Mr. House. Still alive after all these years, barley.

I get off the terminal and walk towards him, looking at him while he looks at me. I stand in front of him as he looks at me with a face of emotions made up of sadness, anger, and utter regret.

"Why have you… done this?... Centuries of preparation… so much good, undone…"

From his voice, he can just barely breathe let alone speak. "Yes man needs you out of the way."

"Your… vanity project… doomed to fail..."

I pull out lucky, the black and white revolver with more kills than the fiends can count. "Time for you to die Mr. House."

He looks at the revolver. He knew it was over when I started to make myway down here, it way have not been the way he wanted to die but it is quicker than most other alternatives. He looked back to me.

"May there be… a hell… for you… a tartarus… bleak, unending…"

I level the gun to his head, finger on the trigger. The funny part about this is what he just said because he is probably right about there being a special place in hell for me. But right now, the people don't need a king or dictator if the world needs to get better. I start to pull the trigger, until the echoing sound of a gunshot bullet could be heard. Then silence.

I holster lucky and walk away, heading to the elevator to go get yes man. As the doors close, I think how this event could affect all of New Vegas and the Mojave. The elevator ride back up started to fade to darkness.

 _(Courier's pov)_

I feel my eyes start to open as my internal clock woke me up. I pull up my pip-boy and true to my thought, it was 5 AM. That's good, it means everything is back on track.

I climb out of bed and head to the bathroom to clean off any grime or dirt from helping Lena yesterday.

 _Ten minutes later_

I grab my duster and stenson and put them back. I turn and head to the door, ready for the mission today. I walk out the door as someone else walks out of the room across from mine.

She saw me and smiled. "Hey Courier, you ready to start the day?"

I shrugged. "Maybe, only if you join me for breakfast."

She jumped to my side. "Well why didn't you say so, of course I join you."

We walked out the corridor and outside, heading for the cafeteria as the daily routine. We walked in and I started heading to the kitchen with Lena in tow. I stop at the stove and start to check the cupboards for a frying pan so I can cook something nice for Lena and I.

I reach in and grasp the pand pull it out, setting it on the stove. I pull up my inventory and pull out some cut blood sausage, banana yucca fruit, and mutfruit. I tight the stove and put the sausage on, letting it cook while I grab two bowls and two plates for our food. I open the drawer and grab a cutting knife and a cutting board.

I grab a spatula and turn the sausage over,letting the other side cook. I look to Lena. "Hey Lena, would you be a dear and cut the fruit in diced cubes while I cook?"

She smiled and nodded, grabbing the cutting board, knife and the the fruit. I look back at the cooking meat before I turn back to her looking at the two fruit, probably because she has never seen those two fruits before. She looked to me. "Hey uh… Courier, how would you cut this exactly?"

I check the sausage and begin to shake the pan, letting it mix and cook in its own blood and fat. "You cut it just like any other fruit, just be mindful of the core of the mutfruit ok ?"

She looked skeptically at me. "Which one is the mutfruit?"

I take one of the sausage slices with the spatula and take a bite, making sure it's cooked all the way. I look at Lena. "The blue one is mutfruit."

She takes the mut fruit and begins to cut, heeding my advice and being mindful of the core. I smile and go back to the cooked sausage sizzling in the pan. I turn off the stove and put an even amount on each plate. I put the frying pan and spatula in the sink and begin to clean.

"Aaaaaaaaaand done !" I turned to see Lena done with the fruit and puts them in the two bowls, making sure there was a fair amount for either of us.

I go back to washing and I finish the frying pan and I begin with the spatula, I see Lena put her dishes in the sink and begins to clean as well. Cleaning alongside each other, we finish at the same time considering the fact I had to clean of blood and grease off my dishes rather than fruit juice. I put the cooking utensils away and grab two knifes and two forks for the both of us while grabbing my plate.

I sit at a table with Lena who is still looking at the bowl of mutant fruit in question. "Hey Courier, what kind of fruit are these because I can't tell where exactly these would come from."

I take a bite of my blood sausage and smile at her question. "Its wasteland fruit I picked a few days prior before I came here. Their still fresh and good "

She picks up her fork and spears some fruit. She looks a little hesitant but she takes a bite. The look on her face was a bit funny. Her face was scrunched up, expecting an unpleasant taste that never came. In fact, she was met with something that was far from unpleasant if the fact she was practically scarfing her fruit down like she had been starved for days.

I couldn't help but chuckle but I was cut off after her fruit bowl was empty. "You know for fruit that came from a post-apocalyptic world, it was really good."

I chuckled a little harder while also eating my fruit. "You want to know something funny?"

She began to eat her blood sausage. "What ?"

I finish my bowl of fruit and set it next to my plate which once held sausage. "You just ate irradiated fruit."

I could hear her heart stop for a second. "I just ate irradiated fruit?"

I smile and nodded with a smirk. "Yep but the radiation levels are very low, almost nonexistent. So don't worry about it but if you do in fact get radiation poisoning, I've got plenty of stuff to get rid of it in a matter of seconds. So don't worry."

I saw her sigh in relief as she continues to eat her sausage again. I now feel a little bad for doing that to her. "Hey Lena, sorry for the scare back there. I didn't mean to startle you"

She finished her food. "It's ok, the fruit was really good anyway."

I smile and take both of our silverware and plates to the sink to be cleaned but was halted by Lena. "What are you doing?"

I go to stand up. "Im taking care of the plates and silverware."

She looks a little confused. "Why, I can take care of it."

I start to walk away and head to the kitchen. "I don't mind taking care of the plates."

She rubbed her shoulder. "Are you sure? I mean, I can do it."

I smile and walk into the kitchen doors. "Nah, I got."

 _(Tracer's pov)_

I watched him walk through the kitchen doors. I felt a little selfish for having him cook for me most of the time. He is a good cook though, I mean the sausage was done just right and the fruit he chose was really good. Even Though it was irradiated a little bit, it was good nonetheless. Besides, he would never hurt me and he said he has something to get rid of radiation.

I bet he and Mercy would get along swimmingly, he could show her a few tricks from the wasteland and she could teach him a thing or two herself.

I continued to think about things until somebody else walked into the cafeteria. I turned to look and I saw it was Reinhardt. I could see the tiredness in his eyes but I also see the joy on his face. More than likely because of the mission today. I wave for him to come sit at the table with me and Courier when he gets back. He walks over and sits down with me. "Ello love, ready to start the day and go find Angela?"

He nods with a small smile on his face. "Aye, it would be great to see the good doctor again."

I nod enthusiastically. "I agree, I can't wait to see her again after these past few years."

Reinhardt looks at the kitchen doors and then back to me. "So Lena, who exactly is Courier? You only call him by that but you don't say any other name when you refer to him."

I look back to the kitchen doors to see Courier walking out. I look to Reinhardt. "Why don't you ask him?"

He turned around to see Courier sit back in his seat and look at Reinhardt expectantly. "Courier, why are you just called that? Is it because you don't like your name, or is it because it's some kind of title ?"

I watched as he took of his stetson hat and reach under his shirt to pull out his bullet charm. He moves some of his hair out of the way to show Reinhardt what he showed me. The look on his face was one of confusion but it quickly faded as he figured it out quite quickly. He looked a little sorrowful. "I'm sorry Courier, I didn't mean to be so… insistent with my questions."

He puts his necklace back on and then puts his stenson back on. "It's ok, the past is the past and I moved on from what happened to me."

I see him get up from his seat. "You should go and get something to eat before we leave for the mission."

Reinhardt nods. "Yes, that would be the smartest choice."

(Ahem) "I see that everyone is here and accounted for so we can begin mission briefing."

I turn and see Winston. I smile seeing the big lug. "Hey Winston and good morning to you."

He walks and sits next to the rest of us. "Good morning to you Lena and to the rest of you two."

He pulls out a device and turns it on, showing a map of a city of Switzerland. "Alright everyone, as you already know. We are going after Dr. Angela Ziegler who is currently located in Zurich Switzerland. We also found out where she is working right now, that is currently the hospital known as Klinik Hirslanden."

He looks at both me and Courier. "I want you two to go in and talk to Mercy and try to get her to come back with us."

Courier looks at Winston questioningly. "Why us?"

Winston straightened himself out a bit. "You two are less likely to draw attention than me and Reinhardt. You two will go in silently, that means don't cause any scenes and don't draw attention to yourselfs. But tread lightly, remember we want things to go as smoothly as possible and there is still a chance Talon will be there. Reinhardt and I will be waiting in the dropship outside the city if things go loud. That also means that you two will need to go on foot or catch a ride to get there, we can't expose ourselves because Overwatch is still technically illegal."

Courier and I look between each other and nodded in agreement. "Alright, we go in undetected and hopefully won't run into talon along the way, talk to Mercy see if she will come with us or not. If so, what then?"

WInston presses a button on the map device, showing how many floors the building has and how big the building is. "We will come by with the dropship and pick you two up on the roof. If we move quick enough, we will get out before things go bad."

 _(Courier's pov)_

I point to Winston and Reinhardt. Alright guys, you two should get something to eat. I will be waiting by the dropship when we are ready to go."

I start to head to the dropship but I was accompanied by Lena. "I will go you with."

I smiled a little bit. Appreciative to have good company while I wait.

 **Hey guys and gals, thanks for reading this chapter and stay tuned for the next one and I'm really sorry for taking SO long with this one. I had to help my family take down thanksgiving decorations and put up christmas ones. But I thank you. Each and every one of you for waiting day after day for me to put a new chapter up. Im also stunned and happy that I've got so many viewers reading this. It's my first story I'm surprised it's this well liked. Thank you - Paladin Leroy**


	13. Feelings, company, and thoughts

_(Courier's pov)_

Lena and I walked to the dropship, neither one of us ahead of the other. Sometimes it feels good to not be leading a person but walking beside them. The only one who ever did that was Rex, I miss that dog. Maybe someday, we'll meet again. And when we do, I want to introduce him to Lena. Im sure they would get along great.

We continue to walk when we reach the doors to the docking bay. We entered and walked to the dropship we were working on yesterday. Looking better than the last time I entered. Lena walked over to the ship and pulled a lever that opens the door. Funny because I never saw that anywhere on the ship but I suppose it does help keep anyone that doesn't need to be in there, out.

She turned around and looked at me. "Well come on, it's best if we get her warmed up."

I walked near the door of the dropship and pointed at the dropship with an open hand while bowing a little. "Ladies first."

She smiled and rolled her eyes while walking inside. "Such a gentleman."

I grinned and followed in tow behind her. "And you know it."

I followed her up to the cockpit of the ship and I sat in one of the seats. I looked around, interested in the designs and appearance of the interior of the ship's cockpit. I turn to Lena who sits down next to me. She looks to me. "Hey, you want to see how this thing works ?"

I nod and get out of my seat, leaning over the chair she was sitting in. She presses a few buttons and turns something on the side of the steering controls. The ship lit up more than it did when we came in. I assume it's powered on from the looks of things but hey, who am I to say anything. I see her grin in glee, happy things are in working order. She turns to look at me but was a little surprised at my close proximity. Being that our faces are but a few inches apart. I can see her blush a little.

I move away a smidge, feeling myself grow 'uncomfortable' in a way. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

She looks away, still blushing. "Y-yeah, It's alright."

I take my hat off and rub my temples, pushing this 'uncomfortable' feeling down. I put my hat back on and look down at the controls in front of Lena. I look down at Lena. "So what do these controls do ?"

Her blush lessens but is still there, she lifts her hand and points to a button. "This button is used to start the primary engines and hover systems so we can get some height before takeoff."

She points to a lever on the left side of the steering controls. "This is used to ease the ship down for landing or it can accelerate it to help reach speeds up to mach two."

I think for a second. If we could have accelerated to speeds as fast as mach two, why didn't we when we were going to Germany. "What are the downsides of the accelerated boost ?"

She looks back to me, without blushing as much. "The downsides are that the engines will overheat because the dropship was not made for speed but durability, the ship's engines will cut out the acceleration when its getting too hot and will need to cool down. The acceleration toggle is just incase we get in a sticky situation when things go bad."

I nod, keeping that in mind for when we might need it. She points to the steering controls. "This right here, is what is used to toggle the yaw, pitch and roll of the ship. As well as the main weapon systems on the ends of the steering wheel, but we'll get to that in a second."

She looked back at me and grinded. "You want to see something cool ?"

I smile and nodded. She hit the steering wheel and some kind of music tune played but with some kind of horn or honking sound. I looked at her confused. "What was that ?"

I took her a second to understand what I meant by my question. But she did catch on. "Oh, that was a little something from home that I put in the dropships horn system."

I look back to the wheel. "What song was that ?"

She also looked back to the flight controls. "That was a song from Britain in the good ol UK, we should go there sometime. There's plenty of places to go and sight to see."

I try to imagine what it would look like with the flag, tech, and map of it I've seen so far. Interesting, but we're getting off track. "Hey, not to be a spoil sport but could you tell me more about the ship's controls ?"

She had a dazed look in her eyes, but it quickly faded and she smiled. "Yeah, there's still lots of stuff I need to show you."

 _(Courier's pov, ten minutes latter)_

"….And that is used to turn on the automated weapon systems."

I look closer at the controls ranging from diferent weapons along the sides of the ship and where. "Interesting, if the door wasn't enough then this will surely make someone piss their pants."

She gave me her signature cheeky grin. "You bet, I can't tell you how many times this ship has kept out intruders."

"Hey you two, I see your giving Courier a tour of the ship."

I turn and I see Winston behind me, smiling at Lena's and I friendly interaction between each other. I wave to him. "Hey Winston, Lena was just showing me around the ship's cockpit."

He nods. "Good because as you can see, there aren't exactly that many pilots among us. Besides, you can never have too many pilots on a ship."

I nod in agreement, you can never have too many pilots on a ship. I look at Lena then back to Winston. "We good to go because I've been ready since breakfast."

He firmly nods. "Yes, Reinhardt is in the back and you two are here so I suppose we're ready to go."

Lena continues to smile and begins to get the ship ready to get out and going. The was a shake through the ship but it quickly stopped and I could see we were heading out to sea with the coordinates locked on to Switzerland. I walk to the door but stop, turning around to Lena. "Hey, you care to join me?"

She just smiles and nods, getting up out of her seat but was halted by Winston. "Sorry Courier, but I need to speak with Lena for a moment."

I feel a little sad but I guess it's important. I turn to the door. "I'll be with Reinhardt down stairs then."

I walk down the stairs to see the hulking behemoth swinging his hammer in the air as if there was a target in front of him. I continue to walk and I pick my seat by the dropship door, watching him continue his warmup. He stops and I can assume he is looking at me if his orange visor was any indication. I look at him and his hammer. I wonder how heavy it is? "Hey Reinhardt."

I see him straighten out a bit. "Yes Courier?"

I get out of my seat for what must be the hundredth time today. I walk and stop in front of him. "How heavy is the hammer?"

He picks up the hammer and rests it on his shoulder. "The hammer is around 100 pounds, or 45 kilograms. Too heavy for anyone to lift and use effectively, even with the rockets."

I could feel a shit eating grin coming on. "Anyone you say?"

He shakes his head. "Yes, it's simply too heavy for anyone to use."

I could **realy** feel a shit eating grin coming on. "You want to test that?"

 _(Tracer's pov)_

I watched as Courier left the cockpit and went to go see Reinhardt. It sucks but I guess Winston has something important to talk about with me. I turn to Winston who just shut the cockpit door. He looks at me with an unreadable look. "Lena, we need to talk about your relationship with Courier."

….What ?

I felt myself blush a little at the topic of the conversation but I don't get why ? We're in a relationship, just not in the romantic sense. Were just friends. Aren't we? "Yeah, um.. What about it?"

Winston moves and sits down giving me a somewhat disapproving look. "You two are getting close, aren't you? I mean, you're normally energetic around every one. But with him, no with him you act different. You're either nervous, you're blushing or other. I let him join us to keep an eye on him, not form bonds or relationships with a man from hell. Or so he says."

I felt myself grow angered from that last comment, I think I almost felt myself growl at him. "You know it's not nice to talk about people behind their backs Winston."

He deepens his disapproving look. "You see, this is exactly what I'm talking about. You don't question a thing he says which may or may not be true."

I calm down a bit, but that doesn't keep me from giving Winston a nasty look. "I believe him because what he says is true. He hasn't lied to yet and I don't think he will. It also helps that he has the look, the weapons, the scars and the tales from a man out of hell. Sometimes when we talk, he remembers things he wants to forget ! When we normally talked, he wouldn't use my real name even if he has heard it numerous times !"

This makes Winston stop for a second, thinking his next words very carefully. "Why didn't he call you by your real name? Did he think he was too good to use it?"

I shake my head with a no. (sigh) "No, he thought he wasn't good enough to use it. He thinks he has to earn it, not just blatantly use it. He also didnt want me to feel uncomfortable just using it when I was really ok with it."

Winston sits in silence as continued. "He didn't use it because he doesn't think himself to be higher than anyone else. Where he comes from he is viewed as a savior, a king, a messiah. All he wants is to be viewed as just any other man. Not some higher being. I told him if he stayed and helped us, he could have that life where he can be just be another face in the crowd and not have people tremble at his feet or praise the ground he walks on."

WInston sits, processing what I said to him. He wants to say something, he is just thinking on how to word it but he eventually gets it out. "You know I recall you not trusting him in the first place, but looks like the roles are changed. Aren't they?"

I nod. "Look Winston, I trust him. You should trust him too, you wouldn't believe how quick he caught on to the dropship schematics. Imagine what ideas you guys could cook up in that lab of yours."

Even though the trust issue is out of the way. There is another question to answer. "Why are you so connected to Courier? What draws you to him like a moth to a flame?"

I think to myself for a moment. What exactly draws me to him? Was it his personality? Was it his stories? Or was it our past? Different stories, same outcome. We both became things we never wanted to be, but we accepted our titles anyway. Me, a heroine. Him, a savior of the wasteland.

I go to say something but I can't find the words to say it. But I do find enough though to say just one thing. "I don't know."

Winston losses his gaze on me and looks to the flight controls. He gets up and sits in one of the seats. Guess we both have something to think about then. Well I don't have anything left to talk about right now. You can go back to Courier now, I know that's what you're thinking.

I smile a little and left to go see what Courier and Reinhardt are up to. "See you love and sorry for yelling."

He smile a little too. "It's ok. Besides, who can stay angry at you. Your you."

I open and walk out the door, giggling on my way down the stairs. He was right, out of everyone I know. Nobody and I mean NOBODY can find the strength to be mad at me, and that's a good thing.

 **Hey guys and gals, thank you for reading this chapter. I realy, realy, REALY feel like I'm treading on the thinnest ice on top of shark infested waters. But hey, I got it done and that's all that matters. To reply to a comment in the reviews, yes I have thought about useing Sole Survivor or Lone Wanderer instead of Courier. I just like Courier best because he is like the badass cowboy of the wild wasteland. Not that I don't like the other two, it was very hard deciding between the three. Maybe once this story is done, I might use a different character. Maybe, well who knows. -Paladin Leroy**


	14. A ship ride and a Tracer tale

_(Tracer's pov)_

I walk down the stairs to see Reinhardt just… standing there? Doing nothing, wonder what that's about. I continue to walk down the stairs and next Reinhardt only to see what got him so spooked.

It was Courier who was lifting Reinhardt's hammer and swinging it with gusto. The thought of anyone else using Reinhardt's rocket hammer was frightening enough, but when Courier uses it. It will be a nightmare, a **fucking** massacre because he is swinging it like it's almost nothing. He seems so relaxed even though I could see some of the tension in his muscles. _Those strong, taut, lean muscle-_ NO, get a hold over yourself ! He looks good, thats all I can say.

The way he was swinging it, it's like he has done it before and he might as well have. Being in a wasteland means life or death so you would use anything as a weapon. I feel sad for any unfortunate bloke who got or gets caught in Courier's crossfire.

A few swings latter and Reinhardt eventually noticed me. He looks to me. "Lena?"

I still look at Courier, swinging away with the hammer. "Yeh?"

He looks back to Courier through his orange visor. "Is he on any drugs or anything in that category?"

I keep my eyes on Courier. "No."

I could feel the amazement and some … nervousness off him. Who knew Reinhardt's weakness is someone smaller than him being as strong or maybe even stronger. I however am not nervous or complaining. I mean I like Courier's personality just fine, but that doesn't mean I don't like what I see.

Courier finished swinging the rocket hammer and propped it up onto his shoulder before looking to Reinhardt. "Reinhardt, you're just jealous that I can lift your hammer better than you can without your armor."

Reinhardt growled a little and that shocked me a little. When he growls it's usually at the enemy, not ally. "No Courier, I am not jealous. I am a man of honor and dignity, we do not get jealous. Even for something as petty as this."

He kept his cocky grin plastered to his face while walking over to Reinhardt, he hands him his hammer. "Keep telling yourself that."

He growls again and goes before going upstairs to see Winston in the cockpit. In all my time in overwatch, I have never seen someone as bolds as Courier. He also maybe the strongest too. That makes me wonder how much he could bench.

I try and imagine it but that only leads to me blushing for the gazillionth time today, and Courier notices it. "Hey Lena, you ok?"

I shake my head from the thoughts and regain my composure. "Yeah I'm alright love, nothing to worry about."

Courier nodded. "Whatever floats your boat."

I look back to where Reinhardt left and we're Courier is standing. "Soooooo, what now?"

He takes off his hat and run his hand through his hair, long enough for his hands to sink in but not enough for it to fall over the faded scar on his forehead. "Well, I need to go through a few things, are there any tables on this ship?"

I nod and go over to one of the panels on the walls. I press a few buttons and turn off the mag-locks before turning over to the wasteland cowboy. "How high you want it?"

He shrugs and puts his hat on. "Around three and a half feet."

I nod and slide the switch up on the panel, raising a table from the floor.

He straightens out his hat and walks to one of the tables in the room. "Well, since Reinhardt left to see Winston. I wouldn't mind learning more about you."

I could feel a pang of anxiety. "I-I- um, what would you like to know?"

He pulls up his pip-boy up. "Just tell me about whatever you'd like, I have no real preference on questions and it doesn't have to be personal."

I stop to think. What would be a good thing to tell Courier? What life was like in London when I was growing up, my stories from the omnic crisis, perhaps what the original overwatch was like? I pondered for a few more moments until something landed on the table Courier is standing in front of. Then another fell on the table, than another, and another until they just kept dropping until I lost count over fifty. I look a little closer to the table only to see a mountain of weapons from small handguns to a large rocket launcher.

To see so many weapons from one man is a little frightening as well as awe inspiring. I taped Courier on the shoulder, getting his attention. "Yeah?"

I look back to the weapons before I spoke. "What are all these and why are there so many of them?"

He smirked as he turned back to the pile. "Oh, these are my toys. All of the weapons that I currently have on me. From my little Maria to the Esther fat man."

I stop for a moment. "All the weapons you currently have on you?... Are you saying you have MORE weapons than this ?"

His grin grew larger. "Yeah, you didn't think this is it. If I could I would carry more than this because What you see now is just a small amount compared to what I have back home. What I have right now are weapons that are for almost any situation or scenario imaginable."

He turns to the table and picks up a silver handgun, cocking it. "From small arms.."

He puts the pistol down and picks up what looks to be a rocket launcher. "To total annihilation."

He puts it on his shoulder and aims in. "Hmmmm if there is anything you want to know first about me is I like guns, LOTS of guns. Hell, you could call me a war lord."

I saw a couple guns I wouldn't mind taking a look at. "Hey do you think I could…"

He turns to me slightly, keeping an eye on his weapons as well as acknowledging me. "If you could… What?"

I start twirling some of my hair between my fingers while having a blush of embarrassment. "If I could look at some of them, maybe try them?..."

He turns a bit more so he could see me. He grows a small smile. "Yes, but after I inspect them. For the shooting part though, well we will have to wait until we get back to Gibraltar so we can go to the shooting range."

I grow my signature smile. "Well get started then, I want to look at some of these babies."

He chuckles and nods. He grabs his signature black and white pistol. He presses something on the western revolver and begins checking the cylinder through an open slot. After checking through it, he aims down the sights. He stops and spins it around his finger a few times before he stops it by holding it by the barrel and points the handle out to me.

I gingerly grab it out of his hands and feel it. The grip, the weight, the sense of lady luck in your fingertips. I trace my gloved fingers over the three leaf clover engraved into the handle. I take it into my hands and aim down the sights. They were simple but effective but I still don't know how he landed that shot on widowmaker's gun. I turn to him, only to see him with aiming with his Gobi campaign scout rifle. "What is this gun called?"

He pulls out the magazine and checks it to make sure its loaded and it goes in smoothly. "Its called Lucky, one of my most reliable handguns."

I look at the handgun for another minute before putting it back on the table. As soon as I put it down, he hands me another weapon. This one was strange, it was a long looking rifle with a metal stock. There were two circuit chips taped and connected to the river through duct tape and wires. The rifle was a sort of dirty bronze color. "What's this one called?"

He was now aiming with his All-American. "That one right there is called the AER14 prototype, or a modified laser rifle if you want to be specific. I found it in a vault full of mutated plants and people."

I grip the weapon and shoulder it, feeling the weight. Wonder how much this thing kicks? I put the weapon down next to Lucky. I think about what he said earlier, I turn to him. "Well, you said you wanted to hear something about me, Do you want to know what Overwatch was like back in its glory days for me?"

He puts down a weapon only to pick another up, this one being a pump action shotgun. "Well I said anything didn't I?"

I smile and nodded. "Weeeeell, as you know. Back then I was a pilot. I flew many missions before I was elected to test the slipstream. I flew from Central Europe to the Americas on many missions from transporting troops or supplies to running combat assignments."

He nods and puts down the shotgun after inspecting it. He picks up a 'minigun' that rested on his shoulders. "Something I want to know is how did you become the poster girl for Overwatch? Were you chosen for that too or did you do that because you wanted to?"

I shook my head. "No, I did it willingly. People thought I did the right thing by doing that because it helped men and women rise up and fight against the present omnic crisis that threatened humanity as a whole. People grew hope after they heard about me. They heard I was in a accident but I overcame it and fought alongside our troops."

He pulls out the miniguns magazine and checks it before slamming it back in. "Well, I'm glad you did do it because you gave people hope for what you did. It may have not felt right, but in a sense you saved the world. Take pride in that."

I grew a sad smile, I almost shed a tear. I watched him as he put the 'minigun' down next to the rest of the weapons before tackling him an a hug. He was stunned for a moment before gaining his composure again, he wraps his arms around me and hugs me back. "Thanks for the compliments Courier, that really means alot to me."

He rubs my back gently and reassuringly. "It's ok Lena, you are always welcome."

After a few more moments of hugging, he lets go and so do I. I feel myself blush and I can see him blushing a little too. I shuffle my feet. "Well this is a bit awkward."

Courier looks away. (cough) "yeah… it is a little awkward."

I too look away to fight off the blush on my cheeks. "Well, you should go back to checking your weapons and I should continue giving my story."

He nods and turns back to his 'toys' to finish his inspection. "So you said you were with the troops on the front lines during the omnic crisis?"

I nod. "Yeah, after I got my powers I was trained on weapons and survival skills before I was reassigned to fight with our boys on the front lines."

He nods and picks up a metallic blue handgun. "So what was it like? A hell on Earth or an amazing adventure?"

Look up for a moment, thinking about all the fun times I had fighting while keeping in mind all the fallen who died fighting for what they believed in. It was fun at certain points, talking with the troops, shooting things, blowing things up. Those were all great times. "Well, it was fun sometimes. Being with friends and family on every mission. But war was war, and the first rule of war is that there were always casualties."

Courier stops, I think I struck a nerve. I can hear him mutter something. "War…...ver….chan….."

"What was that?"

He starts to pick up his guns and put them in his inventory. "I didn't say anything."

I made a small nod. I know he said something but I don't want to squeeze information out of him. I know he will tell me when he is ready. I turn away and walk to the stairs to see where we are right now.

I start to head up the stairs and in the cockpit, I can see Winston and Reinhardt sharing laughs. "Hi loves, what you two laughing about."

Winston turns to me, albeit chuckling. "We are laughing over a joke Reinhardt's men told him while back."

I smile. At least they're having fun. "Well, I was wondering where we currently are and how much longer this is going to take?"

Winston straightens himself out, trying to stop chuckling. "You- you came just in time. We were getting close to the LZ for you and Courier. In fact, were only five minutes out."

I look at the map and outside the cockpit. "Alright then, I will go get Courier ready to go."

I head back down stairs to see him Courier finishing putting away his weapons. "We ready to go Trace? Because I'm ready and raring to go."

I nod and walk to the door. "Yeah, Winston said we are just about right on top of the LZ. Once we get there, we're on foot to the city."

He nods and heads to the door to wait. When we got there, the ship jerked and I almost fell over. That pissed me off a little and I quickly stormed to the stairs. "HEY, QUIT JERKING THE SHIP YOU TWATS! I SPENT HOURS FIXING THE DAMN THING, NOT YOU!"

Winston heard me cause I could hear him yelling from the top of the stairs. "Sorry Lena, it won't happen again."

I Growled a little, keeping everything under my breath. "Better not."

I walk back over to Courier who was laughing his ass off. "Y- you know something?"

I stand next to the door. "What?"

He finishes laughing. "You look pretty cute being angry like that."

I think my mind just broke. "I-I-I- ummmmmm, thanks."

Stupid Lena, pull yourself together. He tips his hat to me. "Anytime."

The ship steadied itself outside the city in the thick woods, out of sight and out of mind. The doors open.

Courier pulls his Lucky revolver out. "Let's do this, shall we?"

I pull out my pulse pistols. "Lets."

 **Hey guys and gals. Thank you for reading this chapter and I'm sorry it was delayed. I had a snowstorm so I had to shovel out a lot of things after it stopped so I'm sorry this was posted a day later than normal. Every chapter I write makes me feel like the ice I'm standing on is getting thinner and thinner. Well anyways, comment and review so I can do a better job at writing. Thanks. -Paladin Leroy**


	15. A stroll through the woods

_(Courier's pov)_

After we got off the ship and onto the ground, we started to move out heading East. Guess it's a good thing I have a pip-boy. "Hey Lena, where are we? I know we're in Switzerland but where in Switzerland?"

She continues to tread on through the thick woods. "We're currently in the Wildnispark Zurich Sihlwald. Southwest of where Mercy is."

I walk over some fallen trunks and fungus. "And how far is the distance between us and Klinik Hirslanden?"

We pass some more trees and bushes. "We got a ways to go because we got some miles to walk before we get to lake Zurich. When we get there, we are going to 'borrow' a boat or car, but that is assuming we don't get caught on the way there."

I nod, walking beside her. "Don't worry about that getting caught part, I got something to cover that."

We continue to tread through in the light of the early morning. "Really, what is it? A portal gun, time machine, something like that."

I keep moving with her while I pull up my pip-boy and pull out the ultimate stealth tool. "This is our escape plan."

She looks at the device in curiosity. "What is that?"

I smile at her expression. "This, my Dear Lena is a stealth-boy. The most useful and efficient way of sneaking and staying out of sight."

She looks at the device further, trying to figure out how it makes stealth effective. "And what does that little thing do exactly?"

I grin. "This little thing makes you almost invisible for a short period of time while also muffling some of you movement. These things helped same my ass from danger many times that I guarantee you these things are just as reliable as they are efficient."

She gives me her trademark grin. "I should have known, you have a friggin alien weapon and a mountain of weapons as well as those stimpacks you carry around. It is not that far fetched that you have something like that."

I chuckled. "Well when you're with me, you better get used to the strange, weird and unexpected."

She smile and nods. "Yeah?"

I too smile and nod. "Yeah."

We walk in silence, guess we can't think of anything to talk about right now. But the look on her face is about to change that. "Hey Courier?"

I turn my head in acknowledgement. "What?"

She brushed some of her hair out of her adorable face. "What do you think of Winston, Reinhardt and I?"

I think for a moment. What do I think of Lena, Winston and Reinhardt? Respect for Winston I guess, he seems more of a pacifist scientist rather than a fighter but I can see he is not afraid to get his hands dirty when it comes to that. Reinhardt is hard to tell. He looks to be the type of guy who would sacrifice his life for what he thinks is right, even for friends and family but what do I know? Lena, that one's going to be hard. I'm not sure, she is energetic and enthusiastic . I love those traits about her because you wouldn't normally see that in the Mojave, it also doesn't hurt to see how nice and caring she is because she is someone I can talk to when I need to.

I keep thinking before I was interrupted. "Well, what do you think of us?"

I shake my head and refocus. "I-I'm sorry but what did you say?"

She still looks to me while we still walk. "What do you think of us?"

I take a breath. "I think Winston is a good guy, he seems to be more of a pacifist rather than a fighter but he can hold his own when the time comes."

She nods. "Winston is a pacifist, that's why he fights. It's because he wants peace and would do anything to achieve that. Most of the time he would rather play the safe route. He is also one of the best scientists I know, I mean we've known each other for years and we got each others backs."

I shrug. "Sometimes I think he forced himself to help me, I could see it in his eyes in the beginning. Yeah, he is under a little bit of stress because he doing all of the planning and what not. I get that."

She solemnly nods. "Yeah, he is under stress every now and then. But you would be too if you were trying to locate random people around the world while also keeping Talon and almost every world government off our backs."

Her smile comes back. "But under that tough armor is a big fuzzy gorilla I call my friend."

I smile a little. "Yeah, perhaps I could say the same thing someday"

She nods enthusiastically. "I hope so too. Back in the old days, everyone knew everyone and we were one big family. We lived together and fought together."

We continue to move through the woods. "So what do you think of Reinhardt?"

I step over an exposed root from a thick tree. "Reinhardt is a bit tricky to figure out. He seems like a good and honorable man, the type of guy that could and would lay down their life for something they believed in."

Lena straightened out her jacket after climbing over some roots and logs. "Yeah, you were spot on on that assumption because he believes in some of the old ways, like the era of the knights and kings old. And onto what you said about him giving his life for what he believed, that is also true. He would have gave anything for the sake of friends, family and innocents if they were in harm's way."

I look down. He kind of remind me of a few people from the brotherhood of steel. "Noble traits and beliefs, I feel the same way to be honest. I would give anything, my life included to keep the people I care about safe."

I look back up to see her run ahead of me and turn around, walking backwards. She gives me a teasing look. "So, the people you care about hmmmmm?"

I look a little farther ahead of her, seeing a roos sticking out. I look back to her, keeping my devilish grin under wraps. "Yeah, I have a handful of people I care about. But do you want to know something?"

She's about to trip on the root. "What?"

As soon as she says that she trips, she yelps as she falls. I quickly move and wrap my hands around her waist. I felt her hands grasp my shoulders. I look at her while she looks to me. "You're on that list of people I care about. Even though we've only known each other a short while, I care."

She was blushing, hard. She looked away from me, starring in any other direction but where I am. I pull her up, still in our embrace. She finally looks back at me, blushing still but she looks somewhat happy. "Realy?"

I nod once. 'Yeah."

We hold each other under the akward silence. A few seconds later we both let go of each other simultaneously, both looking and feeling 'uncomfortable' in the situation. It was my fault to begin with. "Sorry about that."

She looks at me confused. "What are you talking about?"

I rub my neck with one hand, feeling more of this 'uncomfortable' feeling. "I should have told about the root sticking out, the thing you tripped on."

She looks away again with a heated face. "Don't be, I-I-I-I kind of…. liked getting held by you."

I could now feel my face starting to heat up a little. I look down a little, keeping my face hidden with my stetson hat. "I sort of liked holding you."

There was a silence between us that was uncomfortable and unwanted. I look back to the invisible path ahead of us. Hidden under the lush life and trees of green. "Well, we should get a move on."

She does a small nod. "Y-y-yeah, right. We should get going."

I start to walk northeast. We don't have all day."

She starts to jog ahead of me. "Well come on you slow poke! We don't have all day!"

I start to laugh a bit. "Coming dear."

 _(Four hours later)_

After all of the jogging and walking, we could see civilisation. I look behind me to see Lena leaning on a tree for support. Trying to catch her breath. She looks at me. "How(heh) in the bloody hell(heh) are you not tired!?"

I stretch my arms and back. "I've got a lot of endurance and strength."

I pull up my pip-boy and pull out a bottle of purified water. I walk over to Lena and handed the bottle. She takes the cap off and gulps it down in a few gulps. After finishing the water she looks up to me and smiles sweetly. "Thanks Courier."

I turn back and grab my binoculars. "Anytime."

I use the binoculars to scout out where to go. I see people, cars, billboards and other things. Definitely far more things than what is out in the wastes. The cars look far better than the scrapped ones in the Mojave dust. Looks like they don't even have wheels on the bottom, just some kind of hover system. The billboards look more colorful rather than faded. The people have no dirt, scars, or even any faded or torn clothing on them. This world from my point of view seems like a god send.

I feel Lena rest her elbow on my shoulder. "You see anything love?"

I look farther out and adjust my binoculars to see farther. I could see over some of the buildings and I could see a large body of water further ahead of us. "I can see a large body of water ahead of us, there are plenty of people separating it from us."

I could feel her eyes looking at me. "And how do you know she isn't in this town?"

I look around more, readjusting my binoculars. "I studied some of the globe and the map Winston showed us earlier. There is a body of water separating us from Mercy's location right now."

She got off my shoulder. "Perceptive too, wow you're becoming a sweeter deal by the second."

I put my binoculars away. "I don't need to try hard to impress. If you want so see me try then you better raise your expectations."

She crossed her arms. "Is that a challenge?"

I shrug. "Maybe it is? But right now we've got a mission to do."

She clasps her hands together. "So any idea on how to get through the town?"

I put my hand on my chin, thinking. A few thoughts I could think of is the sewer, some kind of civi disguise or we could attempt to travel on the roof tops. I turn to Lena. "I've got a few ideas."

 _(A few minutes later)_

"Why did we need to knock out those poor police officers? I mean, doesn't that seem a bit harsh?"

Right now, we are currently inside of a 'borrowed' police cruiser. I look to her in my uniform I 'borrowed' from the officer. "We needed a way to get to either a dock or a train and what way rather than borrowing something that won't draw that much suspicion?"

Were currently driving block after block, heading to a dock on the cost that is hopefully full of boats to also 'borrow'. I look to Lena who is also in a uniform as well, her chronal accelerator sitting on my lap while she drives. I pick it up and put in my inventory with her uniform. "Sorry if this doesn't sit right with you."

She keeps driving. (sigh) "It's fine, it's just that I hope this will get returned before we leave."

I nod. "It will, I've got that covered as well."

I look out the window. "You know I never asked where we are yet?"

She looks periodically between me and the windshield. "We are in Thalwil right now."

I continue to look out the window, seeing the people and...robots? "Lena, what's up with the robots with the people?"

She keeps her eyes on the road. "Oh, those are called omics. They kind of are robots but you should treat them as if they were your everyday person. Calling those guys robots is kind of a racial slur to them."

I look closely at a few of them. "Good to know."

While we were driving, I saw an overwatch enlist board. I wonder just how big overwatch was back then. I felt a tap on my shoulder. "Were almost at the dock."

I look back to her. "Alright."

After a few more minutes of driving, we stop in a parking lot. We both get out of the car and head over to the boats. Floating and bound to the docks. I look to her.

"You ready to get a boat?"

She makes a small smile. "Only if you are love."

 **Hey guys and gals, I finished another chapter and it's getting farther and farther along. I am accepting requests for some parts of the story and I wouldn't mind having some ideas to throw in there. Feel free to say something, just don't spam it ok? Well, Courier and Tracer are getting closer and closer. Wonder what will happen sooner or latter? Anyways, thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next chapter and remember to comment and review. -Paladin Leroy**


	16. a boat ride

_(Courier's pov)_

We walked down to the docks, keeping a low profile whilst we still have our browed disguises on. I looked through the boats, looking for something fast and inconspicuous. I keep walking down the line of boats until I come across a small red and white speed boat with enough room for the two of us. "Hey Lena, I found a boat."

Lena walks over to me to see the speed boat. She smile and jumps right in, making herself comfortable in the driver's seat. "Come on!"

I before I did anything I looked for the rope that's keeping the boat from leaving the docks. I look around to see it was not bound by a rope but a chain with a padlock. I pull out a screwdriver and bobby pin. I insert the bobby pin and put my screwdriver in the keyhole, turning the bobby pin so I can find the locks 'sweet spot'. I eventually find it and unlock the padlock, pulling the chain off the boat that's keeping us from our mission. Lena looks at me with wonder. "You know how to pick a lock, do you think you could teach me?"

I put the lock and chain in the boat and walk to the other side of the boat. "When we get back I could show you how."

I climb in, being more careful since this is the first time I've actually stepped in a real working boat. I nearly slipped because of the waves of water hitting it but I get in and take my seat next to Lena. She examines the controls for what I am assuming is the ON switch or button. I feel my face morph into an amused while also deadpan look. "Have you never driven a boat before?"

She waved her hand down. "PSH I've driven plenty of boats before."

I study the controls and see what looks to be the on button. "Hey Lena?"

She keeps looking at the controls. "Yes?"

I reach over and press the on button, hearing the hum of the speed boat's engine. "You're a bad liar."

She taps her fingers together with an embarrassed look. "Am I really that bad?"

I grab her by the her shoulders and put her in the chair I was sitting in. Giving me control of the driver's seat. "Yes, you really are but when we get back I'm teaching you a thing or two about lying."

She nods as I attempt to pull the boat out from the docks, nearly crashing into the boat next to us. After a minute of trying I pull out and head northeast on my compass.

 _(one hour latter)_

After sometime on the boat, we are out in the middle of the water. Drifting along its waves. It's strange how there are no other boats in sight but I will not question the good luck of there being no people to see us. Even if we are disguised right now. I look over to Lena who was rubbing her arms. More than likely cold from the wind hitting us at this speed. "You cold?"

She nods. "A little bit."

While keeping a hand on the wheel, I pull up my pip-boy and take out my duster. I hand it to Lena. "Here, use this. It may not look nice but it will keep you warm."

Sho looks at the dusted before putting it on, it being a bit bigger than needed but it will work the same. She snuggles in the duster a little. "Thank you Courier."

I smile and keep my eyes on the wavy waters ahead of us. "You don't need to thank me, we're friends aren't we? Isn't that we do for each other."

She smiled and brushed some hair out of her face that fell because of the wind. "No longer companion but a friend?"

I tighten my grip on the steering wheel. "No longer companion but a friend."

She wraps the duster closer around her, feeling the faded leather. "Has anyone ever got that far?"

I shook my head a little. "Not many, I have only a select few friends who were once companions and are now my friends. You got Arcade Gannon, Veronica Santangelo, ED-E and my best friend in the world Rex. Boone is also there but he has been doing his own thing like yours truly. Especially after what happened to him and his family."

"What happened?"

I keep my eyes on the water. "It's not my place to say. Lets just say some serious shit hit the fan and he did something nobody should ever have to do to a loved one."

She frowned a little. "He lost someone didn't he?"

I solemnly nod. "He lost the one he loved, he told me and I'm glad he did because I was there to help carry the weight of the guilt that was ever growing on his shoulders."

She gingerly smiled. "Well, I'm glad you were there when he needed it."

I nod smiling. "I am too, nobody should carry a burden like that alone."

There was a brief silence between us. Not a bad silence but a good silence. One where we could think. I wonder what Mercy looks like? Wonder what she acts like while doing her work? I can only hope she is like how Lena described her because I would love to meet her face to face. Perhaps share a few wasteland methods in medicine. "Lena can I ask you something?"

She hums in approval.

"What does Mercy look like? All I know is that she is female and she was a doctor on the field. One of the best at that."

She leans back, looking up at the clouded midday sky. She takes a breath of air. "She is a blond woman with fair skin and eyes as blue as the sky. If I remember, she is currently 37 years old. Probably working with patients who suffer from broken bones, gun wounds and anything in that category."

I look back at Lena for a moment and I could see some nostalgia in her eyes. I kept my voice soft as I spoke. "Are you ok?"

She rubs one of her hands over her face. "Yeah, i'll be alright. It's just- just what are we going to say to her?"

I put my hand gently on her shoulder. "It's alright, we can tell her Overwatch needs her again. That there is an enemy out there threatening to start another war between us and the omnics. That she is going to be needed if we need to help the people from getting involved in this. That's the last thing we need."

She slowly pulls her face out of her hands and makes her trademark smile that everybody loves. "You think everything out, don't you?"

I look to the impending city in sight. "I have to, I need to if I want to survive out in the wastes. That is no different here."

She reaches over and taps my head a little. "Anyway to turn off this little ol noggin of yours?"

I chuckle. "No, I think the bullet broke the off switch."

She pouts. "I guess I need to fix that soon."

I look to her. "Only if you find it."

She giggles. "Oh dont worry, I will find it."

I can see a dock out in the distance. "Lena, Were almost there."

She looks ahead, seeing what I see. "I should take off your dust then, shouldn't I?"

I tone down the speed on the boat. "That would be best for now."

She playfully pouted. "Poo, here I thought this thing fit great on me."

I laugh a little at that. "It does fit great on you, belive me."

She takes off my duster and hands it to me. I take it and put it in my inventory. The dock is now right in front of us, I start to look around for a open spot for my to attempt to park the boat. After drifting around for a little bit, I find one. I go as slow as possible and ease in next to the other parked boat. After that, I cut the engines and I climb out. I gesture my hand down for Lena to take it. She grabs it and I help her onto the docks.

"Thanks love."

"You don't need to thank me."

I grab the lock and chain and lock it down onto the docks. I look to lena. "We need to head east right?"

She nods and puts her ear piece in. "Hey Winston, do you read me?"

 _(Winston's pov)_

"Loud and clear Lena, have you reached the hospital yet?"

" **No, We're currently at a dock on the edge of Zurich."**

I move my chess piece forward. "Why did you call then?"

" **We don't know how far the hospital is from where we are."**

I move another piece forward, claiming my opponent's knight. "Give me a second."

I press a button on my earpiece, turning it off. "Athena, track where Lena and Courier are and measure the distance between them and Klinik Hirslanden."

 _ **/Affirmative Winston./**_

Took a few seconds but she got the calculations done.

 _ **/They are currently one and a half miles west from the target./**_

I smiled. "Great, thanks Athena."

I turn my ear piece back on. "You are currently one and a half miles west from Klinik Hirslanden." I moved another chess piece, taking again another one of my opponent's pieces.

" **Thanks a bunch big guy."**

I move my bishop to take a pawn. "Don't thank me, thank Athena."

I turn off my earpiece and move my king in a position to take the queen. "Checkmate Reinhardt."

He looks between me and the chess board. "I could beat anyone of my men in Stuttgart but I can never beat you."

I chuckle. "Chess is my domain here old friend."

 _(Courier's pov)_

I look at Lena who just finished her conversation with WInston. "We know where to go now?"

Her smile fades for a moment. "Yeah, we got another mile and a half to go though."

I could feel my eye twitching a bit. I look up to the sky to voice my frustration. "God damn it."

She puts a hand on my shoulder. "Come on Courier, we still got some walking to do."

I look back down to her and smile back. "At least I have good company."

She blushes. "Funny because I was thinking the same thing."

I start to walk with her down the path of the dock. "Let's get going, we don't want to be late for our doctor appointment. Do we?"

She nodded. "It would just be bad manners wouldn't it?"

I nod, keeping my distance to her close. Wouldn't want to get lost and lose her would I?

 **There we go, I finished another chapter right before christmas. I looked through some of the comments and I tried my best to follow what someone said I should do. Thank you for the comment and idea. Onto the other one, we will get to that when we get there, ok? Also, if you guys want Courier and Tracer to hook up, type a number for a future chapter number. (For example 20,21,22..Etc) Can you guys do that for me? Also I thank you guys for your support and sticking with me thought this story. I thank everyone who reads this. See you guys and gals latter. -Paladin Leroy**


	17. Some doctors appointment

_(Courier's pov)_

We walk down another block, keeping our distance between us and the civies. Just to be on the safe side. It would be really useful if I updated my pip-boy map to this world so that way it makes missions more easy.

If I have counted my steps right, were currently not too far away from the hospital. Around a few hundred feet or so? We pass a few more people, one walking a dog that reminds me of… God do I miss him, I hope we meet again.

A few more minutes of walking and the hospital is in sight. Lena bumps my arm discreetly. "How are we going to get in?"

I lean my head in to whisper. "I've got an idea."

We move to an alley to keep out of sight. "You said Mercy works in the physical wounds department or whatever it's called right?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, on the boat I said she would probably be working with patients that suffered from broken bones and gunshots. I don't really know where she works."

I growled. "This makes our job a little bit harder.

I looked down the alley to make sure nobody is listening in. Good, nobody is there. I look back to lena. "Are ballistic gun wounds still common?"

She shakes her head for no. "No, they are very uncommon nowadays. Why would someone use a bullet that can be tracked when they could use an energy weapon that's almost untraceable?"

I reach in my inventory and pull out Pew Pew. I toss it to Lena and she catches it. "What is this for?"

"Shoot me."

She looked appalled I even asked that. "Why would I do that?! I would never shoot you!"

I motioned my hand for her to be quite. "Shush, keep your voice down."

She still looked at me shocked. "Why would I shoot you?"

"If what you said is true, then we would be in the same medical ward or area near where Mercy works. We could make it look like a mugging or attempted murder so people believe it. Just yell out for help or something when it happens. Ok?"

She still looked nervous. "W-what if I kill you?"

I took off my police hat and dropped it on the ground. "Dont worry, I will be alright."

She shakily raises the laser pistol to my chest, keeping the distance at arms length. She closes her eyes. "I'm sorry for this."

"Don't be."

A shot fires from the gun and the impacts knocked me down. I clutch my hand over my abdomen, grunting at the white hot searing pain. I look up, trying to keep my breathing steady. "One is not enough."

She looked really distressed. She raised the pistol again and shot me right where my heart would be. I felt myself fall to the alley floor as my vision starts to darken. I can't breathe right. I reach my hand out for Lena. She rushes over and grabs it.

I slowly reach over and take my laser pistol out of her hands and put it in my inventory. I look up to see her face as the darkness starts to cloud my vision. "Go..m-make a..believer...out…...of…..th…"

I fell into the darkness as I could only hear but not see. Just barely could I hear her voice. "SOM….ELP….HE…..SHO…"

I could now hear some kind of siren. Getting louder and louder after every moment I lay here. I feel numb, cold even. Guess I too much for I bargained for. That second shot really packed a punch.

I feel myself getting lifted and put on to something. Something soft. I can't keep my mind awake any longer. I feel too tired. Too cold. Too….

 _(Some time latter, Courier's pov)_

I start to wake up, still stuck in the darkness that consumed me from earlier. I can't hear anything but the steady beeping from a machine to my right and a pumping sound to my left.

I feel like shit, mainly my chest. I guess this is how people feel when I shoot them with pew pew. I wonder how their head feels after getting shot with it? Holy shit that would few awful. The chest hurts enough but the head. Ohhhh boy that would hurt worse than this.

Wait…. I'm getting off track. I need to find Mercy and finish the mission. I try to open my eyes finding it to be quite difficult but I managed. I look around the room, seeing a lot of white and empty beds. I look down to my arm which luckily still has my pip-boy on it.

I try to raise it only for it to fall back onto the bed. I try to raise it again and again but I'm too weak right now. I look to my right arm and I could see a tube connected to it. It must be the medications they got me hooked on.

I lay in bed waiting for my strength to return as it always does. I could hear something, I look to the door and see someone step in. It was a woman, looked to be around mid thirties. Her hair was blond and held up in a bun with some hair covering part of her face. She was wearing a doctor's coat and her eyes were blue, almost sky…..Holy fuck this might be the person we were looking for.

SHe walked over to me and sat down onto one of the chairs near my bed. "Hello, my name is Dr. Ziegler."

I try to raise myself up to greet her but i'm too tired. She lays a hand on my shoulder and eases me back down onto the bed. "Easy now, we don't want you to hurt yourself even more now do we?"

She looks down to me. "Can you speak at all?"

I reasurt my gaze to the IV tube in my arm. "Y-yes...I (cough) can."

She smile and nods. She takes out a clipboard and a pen. "So officer Leon Meier? Was it?"

Leon Meier? Must have been the name on the uniform I borrowed. "Yes."

She looks back to the clipboard. "So Mister Meier, I read these reports and there are some areas that need to be filled out."

I try to nod and I barely did so. "Ok."

She writes something down onto the clipboard. "So according to the lab reports, you were shot twice from an unknown person from what your partner said was an attempted mugging or murder. From the wounds you received, you were shot with a high powered weapon. Possibly pulse ore laser from the looks of it."

I could feel some of my strength returning. "Yeah."

She starts to flip the paper on the clipboard and read through it. "Yes, the damage was a complete collapse on your left lung. There were a few broken ribs and those will heal in time. You were very, very lucky to be near the hospital or we would not have gotten to you in time."

I clench and unclench my hand, testing my grip. Now is the time to put my charisma to good use. "Yeah, I'm just happy I'm still alive."

She remover her gaze from the clipboard and onto me. "When we went to take a look on the damage onto your body we noticed something."

I rest my hand onto my bandaged chest. "What did you find?"

She took out one of the pictures from the X-ray of my torso. "We noticed that you do not have a real heart. It was a prosthetic. When you were shot right where your heart was, it hit your sternum. And when that happened, your prosthetic hit your lungs causing one of them to collapse."

I start to lean up slowly as soon as she looked away. I put up fake interest. "Interesting."

She noded. "Indeed, your heart is far more advanced than any of the prosthetics we could have ever developed. It managed to take a hit hard enough to break your sternum and still keep beating. Its extraordinary."

I lean up and sit with my legs sticking over the edge of the bed. She noticed this quickly. She starts to try to put me back into the bed. " , you need to get back in bed. You need to rest up."

I grab her hands and gently push her away, giving me room to pull out my IV and tube inside of my chest. I could feel my chest seize up but I pull out a stimpack and inject it into myself. I could now breath freely without that pesky equipment.

She walks back over to me, a little frustrated but none the less intrigued from what I injected into myself. " what are you do-"

I immediately stick my hand up. "Stop. Don't call me that."

I pull up my inventory and take out my hat and duster. I start to take off my bandages so I could put some real clothes on.

"What do you want me to call you then if not Leon?"

I finish taking the bandages off and start to put on my normal outfit. "Call me Courier, everybody else does."

She looks at me confused. "Courier? As in a messenger courier?"

I nod for a yes. "Yeah, just like that. And speaking of messages, I've got one for you."

She crosses her arms. "What is i?"

I put my duster and stetson hat on. "The world needs you again, it's falling apart and it needs Overwatch to keeping it from breaking more."

She looked down. (sigh) "Follow me to my office."

I follow her out the door and pass other patients, doctors, and nurses. We eventually reach a door that has her name engraved in it. I step inside as she follows behind and locks the door and closes the blinds. Ensuring privacy.

She turns to me. "You said something about Overwatch?"

I lean against the wall. "Yes, the world needs you again Mercy. It's falling apart and it will need Overwatch to help put it back together."

"But the Petras act outlaws Overwatch and it is deemed illegal worldwide. The world doesn't even want Overwatch anymore, despite our past service to the world."

I straightened my hat. "It may not be the hero they want, but it is the one it needs. Despite what people say."

She walks over and sits in her chair at her desk. "I have a good job here, helping people. Putting my expertise and experience to good use. What makes you think Overwatch will help save lives rather than destroy them."

I get off the wall and walk to the desk. "Have you been keeping up with current events lately?"

She runs one of her hands through her hair. "Yes I have."

I cross my arms. "So you know what happened in Stuttgart, Germany and Numbani, Africa?"

She nodded solemnly. "Yes….. I know what happened. So many people…. just gone."

I sit down in one of the chairs in front of her desk. "Then you understand why Overwatch needs to come back, you understand why we will not just stand here and let this happen. Besides, this is bigger than any of us now."

She looks up, a bit confused. "What do you mean this is bigger than any of us?"

"Talon is trying to start another omnic crisis. They have been killing off any Overwatch veterans across the world so that they can't stop what Talon are planning. Right now, we need as many people as possible to help prevent this from happening. The world won't be able to take it what will happen if Talon succeeds on creating another Omnic crisis."

She leans back into her chair. "How many have answered the call?"

"So far, only Tracer answered and Mccree is on the way to the watchpoint. We recently convinced Reinhardt to join back up and there are a few others out there who are still alive. We have selected a few recruits we are interested in asking to join the cause."

She picks up a picture. I can only see the back of it. "I don't know if I can join, I know you people need me but I don't know if we are going to help the world…... or make things worse."

I stand up and walk to the door. Before I open it, I turn back to . "You need to make a decision, the amount of people you save here are going to be miniscule to the amount that are going to suffer and die. And when talon comes here and believe me they will, I hope your ready for what comes next because this is only the beginning."

I open the door and take out a stealth-boy. Activating it and sneaking past doctors and patients alike. I make my way to the stairs and walk to the roof. Once there I take the mostly unused earpiece. "Lena are you there?"

A brief moment before she replies. **"Courier! You're alright!"**

I smile, good to hear her voice again. "Yeah, where are you right now?"

" **Im outside of the hospital right now, people were starting to get suspicious."**

I walk to the edge of the roof. "Where outside?"

I looked around and a ways down I could see her pacing back and forth. " **I'm out front."**

I smile. "Hey, look up."

She stops pacing and looks up to see me. The distance is too far between us to be heard but that is why we have our earpieces. "Hey, i'm going to drop your accelerator and I need you to put it on so you can blink up here."

I can see her nod for a yes. I take the accelerator and drop it for her to grab it. She grabs it and immediately starts to put it on. Once its fastened, she begins to blink up to the roof.

On her third blink she made it. Once up here, she ran and hugged me tight. "Courier, I was worried. I thought I killed you."

I wrap my hands around her and try to sooth her. "Its okay, Im alright."

I think I heard her sniffle a little. I gently reach down and pull her face to look at me. Her eyes looked a little puffy and red. Her cheeks were a little damp. I wipe some tears out of her face. "It's okay lena, it's okay."

Her crying stops by her distressed thoughts were still evident on her mind. I hold her for a few minutes to further my progress on calming her down. When we let go, she looked considerably more better. "You good now?"

She sadly smiled. "Yeah, I'm good."

I nod and use my earpiece. "Winston."

A second letter he answers. " **Courier, I hope the mission went as expected."**

(sigh) "No, she doesn't want join back. Were on our own."

 **(sigh) "Well, did you at least warn her about what is happening to Overwatch agents?"**

"Yes, I did. That was what scared her most."

" **I would imagine."**

"Yeah, I essentially just told her everyone she knew in Overwatch is either dead or getting hunted down."

I look down the streets and I could see something. Black vehicles, lots of black vehicles. They all stop out in the parking lot and I could see very familiar men in black strike uniforms step out. Each of them armed to the teeth. "WInston get over here."

" **I'm already on my way for extraction."**

Its Talon, I hate there assholes. "We don't need an extraction, we need reinforcements. We've got company."

I turn off my earpiece and and take out all of Lena's equipment. I hand it to her. "Ok, get changed real quick because we've got Talon moving in."

I walk to the edge and pull out Christine's CoS silenced sniper rifle. I aim in and start to pick them off, be it crippling blows or head shots. They notice me and start to suppress fire while some start to move to the building. I try my best to slow them down but there were too many of them.

While I was shooting, I saw Lena jump over the edge of the building. Blinking her way down between the enemy gunfire. She pulls out her pulse pistols and engages the Talon strike team. I pull out my machete gladius and use it to tear my way down the side of the building.

I reach were Lena was and I pull out an assault carbine. I start to pick off a few soldiers with short controlled bursts. Some of them start to push up and soon we are going to become overwhelmed. "Tracer, we need to fall back there is too many!"

She nods. I pull out my heavy incinerator and start shooting everywhere I saw a Talon troop. The stop moving forward and took cover behind some of the cars in the parking lot. Lena runs into the building and I follow. As soon as I made it I was hit in the back of my shoulder and my left calf. I grunt and pull myself into cover.

I look around the room and see people everywhere scared shitless. Everyone needs to get out now! "What are you people doing here! Start evacuating the building through the back exits or anywhere but the front door!"

The woman in the front desk shakily nods. She presses a button and pulls out a phone or something like that. Setting off an alarm and she begins speaking something that I could not understand. The people began rushing out of the building through anywhere but the front door.

I look over to Lena as she cools down her pistols. "You ready?"

She grins. "Like you even needed to ask."

I smile at her enthusiasm. "Good, we need to find Mercy right now. That's who they are after."

I peak my head out and I see the soldiers begin to walk to the door. I look to Lena. "You go find Mercy, I will hold them off until help arrives."

She looked back at me assertively. "No, I'm not leaving you here!"

I grab my laser RCW and load it. "It won't matter if we're dead! Go find Mercy and get her to the roof, help will arrive and we can get out alive. If she doesn't want to help us, then that's fine. Just keep her safe until this is over."

She wanted to argue if her face said anything. I start to suppress fire keeping the hostiles outside the door. "Have I lied to you before?"

She begins to fire. "No."

I pull out the used electron charge pack and put a new one in the RCW. "Then believe me when I say I will be alright, ok?"

She looked a bit sad but complied to what I said. I pull out a flashbang and throw it to stun the enemies as she starts to run up the stairs. "YOU BETTER COME BACK ALIVE YOU BLOKE!"

I chuckle. "Dont worry, I will."

I peek over the corner and pull back. as soon as I do that, they start to shoot right where my head was. They are now inside the room so I pull out my machete gladius, ready for a fight. One comes around the corner and points his gun at me but before he could fire I grabbed the barrel and throw it across the room. Next I swing my blade right into his neck as blood gushes out and splatters over my face. The others notice this and point their guns at me as I pull my machete out.

I move his body to be used as a human shield. Taking all of the shots for me. I throw it as they needed to reload. I rush to the nearest hostile who dropped his weapon and tries to pull out his sidearm. I knee his elbow and broke his arm, making him drop his other gun. Before it fell I grabbed it and started shooting at the others using their ally as cover.

I throw him across the room and hit another Talon grunt, knocking him down. I run and slash at another grunt. Cutting off his right hand. While he was stunned I spun around to get some momentum for my next hit and I cut him with an upwards vertical slash. Exposing his chest cavity and insides. He falls dead as two other grunts pull up their rifles and begin to shoot.

Three shots hit me before I rushed the grunt on the right and stab him through the chest and turn him around. Running at the grunt at the left with part of my exposed machete sticking through his now deceased friend. I pin them against the wall hilt deep with the blade. The last grunt in the room tries to shoot me but I pull out the machete out of the two and throw it at him. Cutting straight through his leg.

The next Talon grunt fired off a shot in desperation but missed as I pulled my machete out, jumped and rolled over to him. Closing the distance between us as I slammed into him and push the bloody blade of my worn machete into his throat. I pulled it out as he starts to gargle on his own blood. Drowning in it internally. I turn to the last grunt in the room.

He tries to shoot me as he could only get a shot off but his gun jams. I he attempts to run but he slips on his partner's blood. He tries to crawl away but he hits the wall as he shakes uncontrollably. I walk to him agonizingly slowly. He tries to pull out his handgun and after a second of messing with the holster he pulls it out. He aims and fires off three shots, all of which hit me in the torso. He was about to fire again but I kick the gun out of his hands. He looks at me as I could smell the stink of fear off him. "You really think a petty handgun could kill me?"

He was looking at me through his red visor. I stop in front of him. "You have a ten second head start to run."

He looks confused. "W-what?"

I step back. "Ten, nine, eight…."

He registers what was happening and scrambles to his feet starts to head to the main door. I wipe the blood away from the blade of my machete and put it back in its sheath. "Seven, six….."

He runs out the door and into the parking lot. "Five, four…."

He was heading to one of the black vehicles he came in. I drawed my ranger sequoia. "Three, two…."

I level the gun to the back of his head as he tries to open the car door. "One."

I fired and blew a clear hole through his head. Splashing blood over the car door and window. Dripping with the crimson liquid. His body slumps over.

I empty the spent bullet casing and put a new one in. I turn to the stairs and head up, listening to the sound of gunfire yelling. After taking the first few steps I was in pain. I looked down and I could see my shirt was stained red as well as my duster but it just rolled off it, dripping onto the stairs. I pull out two stimpacks to try and heal the wounds and as always they did. Now back on track, I head up the stairs and follow the sound of gunfire.

I follow the sound until I get to a hallway holding a gun fight between Lena and Mercy versus the a Talon strike team. Lena saw me and she nearly had a heart attack. I was covered in blood from head to toe, some of it being my own. I run to the corner of the hallway. "Is everybody evacuated?"

Mercy nods. "Yes, they have many contingencies in case this happened."

I crack a grin. "Good that means no holding back."

I pull out my CZ57 avenger. "Tracer, doctor, I'm going to need you two to run up the stairs when I start shooting."

Lena smiled. "You've got it!"

Lena grabbed Mercy and ran as I popped around the corner to unleash hell upon my enemies. Three out of the seven died as the others took cover. I was starting to run out of ammo so I started to move back to the stairs. As I ran out I put away my CZ57 avenger and pulled out my medicine stick brush gun to keep them from following us up the stairs to the roof. We make it and I can see the dropship in the distance. "Good, it's almost here."

I run to cover right next to Lena and Mercy. "Howdy folks."

Lena looked me over. Gazing at the blood all over myself. "Howdy yourself."

I smile. "I thought you would be happy to see me?"

She looked disturbed by the amount of blood dripping from my clothes. "I am, but don't even think about hugging me when we get back on the ship."

I shrug. I look back to the door, noticing nobody coming out. "Hey, where are the rest of the grunts?"

Lena and Mercy look over to the door to the stairs. Mercy looks to me. "Maybe they have given up?"

Lena shook my head no. "No, they wouldn't give up this easily."

I still don't like this. Even though I can see the dropship now I don't like this blistering silence. "Whatever is happening keep your guard up."

They nod. The dropship steadied itself out and the doors opened Reinhardt was ready with his hammer and Winston with his tesla cannon. Winston steps out. "Hello everyone."

Lena waved ecstatically. "Hello Love."

I tip my hat and he walks over to Mercy. "It's been awhile Dr. Ziegler."

She smile and nods. "Indeed it has, I just wish our meeting would have been under better circumstances."

Winston frowns. "I second that thought, but never the less we meet again."

I clasp my hands together. "So are you joining back with us again or what?"

She walks over to the dropship. "I have thought about what you said and considering the…. Events of today. I would like to rejoin Overwatch because as you said Courier, this is only the beginning."

Lena follows Mercy and Winston onto the dropship. I too begin to follow until I am shot in the back. The impact of the shot made me fall to the edge of the dropship door and it hurt like hell. I get up and turn around to see Widowmaker across the rooftop from me with a new sniper rifle. The others from the ship immediately get out to face her. But that didn't deter her from trying to kill me. Reinhardt puts up his shield protecting everybody on the dropship while I'm still exposed to sniper fire. I crawl over to cover and pull out a stimpack.

She stopped but I assume she is reloading. I take the chance and run at her just as she finishes. I dodge a few shots but some of them hit me. Hitting me in the shoulder and grazing my thy. That doesn't stop the pure adrenalin from pumping in my heart as I piledrive her and me off the roof. As we fell, we exchanged punches. Her hitting me across the face as I uppercut her.

We land on top of a car, smashing the roof and windshield from out impact. I was on the bottom as she was on top of me, constantly hitting me in the face until I catch one of her punches. I hit her in the face, stunning her and giving me a chance to kick her off me. I roll off the broken car with a few shards of glass sticking out of my duster and my hat missing.

I hurt all over but I don't let anyone see it. I growl at her. She just laughs at me. "Vous êtes vraiment juste un mutt de la rue, ils ont pris eu pitié de."

I look at her confused as she sinisterly grin. I know that she said something rude but I do not understand her language. "You just said something rude didn't you?"

She starts to run at me to engage into hand to hand combat. "I thought that was obvious mon cheri."

I run at her to try and get the first punch in. She dodges, spinning around to hit me in the side of my head with her heel. That stuns me for a moment but I start to dodge and block the incoming punches as best I could. We were almost a match, nobody beating the other. She tries to kick me again but I was ready. I caught her leg and threw her at a car hood, making a small dent. She gets off the car and rushes at me, again closing the distance.

She jumps and flips around until she is on my back, wrapping a wire around my neck. Ceasing my breathing. I fall to my knee as I grab the wire to make enough space for me to breathe. SHe leans in next to my head. "You costed me a lot in Talon mon cheri, you made my superiors lose faith in me. Especially after you broke my Baiser de veuve back in Numbani."

I continue to gasp for air but I managed to speak. "You...are only…...going …..to lose…. more."

I grab her head and smash it on my knee, making her lose her grip on the wire and allowing me to throw her off. Creating a distance between us. I could see the worn look from her as well as some blood on her in two shades. A dark almost black shade and crimson shade.

She stands puts her hand up to her cheek and wipes off the crimson blood. Licks it clean from her gloved fingers. She looks to me. "You have a strange taste mon cheri, I will enjoy breaking you and snuffing out your life."

I could hear sirens off in the distance and she must have heard them too. She blows a kiss before grappling away. As soon as she leaves I fall to my knees, coughing up blood from that fight. I start to push myself up and back onto my feet after that. I look up to the roof to see Lena and everybody else. I give a thumbs up.

She sadly gives me a thumbs up with a depressed smile. I could see her yelling at Winston but I feel deaf. I try to walk forward but I only stumble and fall. I see Winston jump down and pick me up, making his way back up to the roof with his jump pack.

I cough a little and feel a little bit of the crimson liquid ooze down my mouth. I could see I'm getting carried to the dropship and put on a table before I blacked out.

I feel someone grab my numb hand and hold it gently. I try to look and see who it is and I see Lena. She looked worried, scared even. But as I told her before.

Dont worry.

 **There we go. I finished chapter seventeen and this took me three days to write this. This should be around three times as longer compared to the past chapters. To me that is an accomplishment and I do plan on making future chapters longer. Right now it is almost new years! Hooray everybody, its almost 2017! I hope everyone had a good christmas and I hope everyone is having a good new years. Remember to comment and review so I can do a better job at writing. -Paladin Leroy**


	18. Sharpshooting and lockpicking

_(Mercy's pov)_

Winston Carried Courier into the dropship and laid him onto one of the extended tables near the center. He was beaten and covered with the blood of his enemies and his own, barely breathing. Lena rushed to his side and grabbed his hand. He slowly looked over to her and made a miniscule smile. It's a wonder he was still awake but now is not the time for speculations. It's time for action.

I rush to one of the crates in the dropship and pull out as many medical supplies as possible that will help him. I rush to his side and inject him with a liquid dosage of acetylcholine to slow down his heart rate to keep him from bleeding more. I grab a mask and connect it to a canister of oxygen to keep him breathing. I Look to Lena who had tears running down her face. "You might want to step away for a few minutes."

She solemnly nodded as I press a few buttons on the table to activate the scanner to see what kind of damage we were dealing with.

 _(Winston's pov)_

After I brought Courier to the ship, I left him in the capable hands of Angela. If anybody could fix anyone medically, it would have been her. I walk up the stairs and enter the cockpit to get the ship ready to take off and back to the Watchpoint.

I reignite the engines and close the dropship door. I create some distance between us and the roof of the hospital, setting coordinates for the Watchpoint. After everything was set I set the ship on out pilot. "Athena, take control of the ship and keep it on course to Gibraltar."

" _ **Affirmative Winston."**_

I lean back in the pilot's, rubbing a hand over my face due to the stressful nature of the situation. Courier being injured was the only downside of the outcome of the mission, but I suppose it may have been worth it if it means we have a certified doctor on board with us.

I wonder how Lena feels right now? When I brought him in, she was in tears over his current state. She and I both know he will be alright in Angela's hands but that probably didn't stop her mind from wandering on 'ifs and buts' of his present situation.

Reinhardt is not that hard to figure out. He views Courier as a brother in arms, fighting for what they believe in. Courier reminds me of Reinhardt in a way, running head first into the enemy if his fight with Widowmaker was anything to go by. As if it were a challenge or brawl over who is the strongest between her and him. He went in fearless and unhesitant into the fight, another one of the good reasons he is with us.

I sit in silence, thinking to myself until I was interrupted.

" _ **Winston, you have an incoming transmission from Jesse McCree."**_

I smile. "Answer the transmission."

 _(Tracer's pov)_

I sat quietly, waiting for Mercy to be done patching up Courier. I hold onto his hat that I managed to grab before it fell off the rooftop as he tackled Widowmaker. I look down to it, feeling the worn and faded texture with my hands. I hope he will be alright.

I think back to when we were in the alley, back to when I shot him. I feel more tears run down my face as the painful memory comes to my mind. The first shot was painful more me as it was for him, I would have rather shot myself than shoot him. The second shot….oh god, I nearly killed him. If we were farther away from the hospital, I would have too. All Im grateful for right now is that he is still alive and with us…. with me.

"Worried?"

I look to my right and see Reinhardt leaning against the wall next to my seat. I gave him a confused face. "What are you on about?"

He looks at me through his orange visor. "You're worried about him. Aren't you?"

I stare back down to the faded stenson in my hands. "Its that obvious huh?"

He chuckles. Indeed it is. "I've seen a few of my fellow crusaders acting the same way for family, friends and loved ones. Be it husband, wife, son, daughter. It's the same face every time."

I keep my gaze on the hat. "You ever felt that way about anyone?"

I wave his hand dismissively. "I have felt that way about many people. Be it family or friends."

I look up to him as he looks at Mercy and Courier. "What about in the romantic sense?"

He took a pregnant pause before answering. "I have felt that way about someone once apon a time but that was a long time ago. And like most things, it in the past."

I look back to Courier and Mercy who just finish healing him as to the best of her abilities. She turns to me. "I helped him as much as I could but be mindful of his torso as he obtained many broken bones and bruised muscles."

I nod and get out of my chair and grab it, making my way to Courier who was hooked up to a respiratory life support system. I put my chair down right next to him and sit. I reach and grasp his hand. Holding it so he would know Im here if he can't see me. If he was conscious. I felt his hand clench around my hand unknowingly to him. Perhaps his body understands that I am here for him while his mind was oblivious to me.

I feel his rough hands in my own as I wait patiently for him to wake up.

 _(Courier's pov, few hours latter)_

I stared into the utter blackness, a 'limbo' of sorts. Not sure if i'm inside my subconscious or something like that. No matter how many times this may or may not have happened. I start to regain some feeling though. I could feel I'm on a bed of sorts with I think is a blanket over me to keep me warm. I feel something strapped to my face, pumping oxygen into my lungs. I feel pain all over, my chest and right shoulder primarily though. I can also feel something holding my hand…..

I try to open my eyes to see what is happening and what is going on. After some effort I manage to open them and I could burly see. I look down and see my chest littered with bandages and a few new stitches. I look to my left and as always, my pip-boy is still there with no signs of anyone tampering with it. I look to my right and I see the one who has been with me since the start and the end of the mission.

She was fast asleep, snoring lightly. Her face was just as cute as last night. I'm glad she is here, nobody where I'm from would have waited for however long she probably has. Besides Rex of course.

I pull up my pip-boy, not being able to actually use it because my hand is still encased in Lena's steel grip. The first thing I was greeted to was my current status of my limbs. My torso is crippled with my arms legs and head not so far behind.

I look to my right hand. If I could gently pull it out, I could take out a few stimpacks and fix my current medical situation the easy way. Besides, I have tons of them. Enough to supply an old world hospital for years. I glad that the pre-war military made the frames of the stimpacks with a light and durable metal material. If it wasn't for that I could not be able to carry this many.

I reach my left hand and gently start to loosen her fingers so I could slip out. I go slowly, undoing one finger at a time.

She fidgets a little as I undid the index finger. I start to work on undoing the middle finger and she fidgets a little bit more. I stop and wait for her to relax. Once she's done, I undid the middle finger. I start to work on the ring finger.

"Courier….."

I stop and look up immediately, just to see she was still asleep. Wait, if she wasn't awake then what was she dreaming about? It involves me somehow but I will never know, I could just ask her when she wakes up.

I finish undoing the ring finger and I gently undo her pinky finger. I finished doing that and I got my hand free from her grip. It wasn't unpleasant but I needed my hand for a moment.

I pull up my inventory and take out a stimpack. I inject it into my abdomen and my, ceasing the numbed pain with my crippled torso and my new stitches. I lean up on the bed, listening to the subtle cracks and pops of my joints. I reach my left hand and feel around my shoulder, I feel where the pain hurts most and I look. There is a giant lump sticking out and it doesn't look like right. I grab onto the bed with my right hand and I used my left to push my humerus back into its socket. It hurt like hell but I did it and it looked a lot better than before. I roll my shoulder, it still hurt but it wasn't so bad. Just more manageable enough to deal with.

I flip the blanket off me and get out of bed. I grab the mask and take it off my face, breathing in fresh air rather than the canister one. I look around and I could see my duster on a coat hanger but where was my hat? I look around for another moment but I did not see it.

Damn, I must have dropped it back in Switzerland. Good thing I have other hats but fuck, that one was my favorite. I noticed that I was still a little bit messy but anywhere concerning my wounds was clean. "Time to go take a shower then."

I walk out the room and head to my room to clean myself up.

 _25 minutes latter_

I step out of the bathroom far more clean than when I entered. The stench of blood and iron was now finally gone…...for now.

I pull out a new shirt from my inventory to replace the one that was scraped. I put my duster on, having a few new holes in it than before. I put my boots on with a new pair of pant considering how brown the last pair was with all of the dried blood in the fabric.

I step out and head to the firing range. I need some practice and a few things to think about. I walk out of the dorms and out in the sunlit evening of Watchpoint Gibraltar. I walk past the medical ward but I stop and look back. I mutter to myself. "I needed to do something real quick."

I walk back inside to see Lena still sleeping soundly just as I hoped. I go over to her and pick her up in my arms bridal style. I walk back to the dorms and open her room, still as vibrant as ever. I'm glad she forgot to lock her door just this once.

I set her down onto the bed to sleep but before I walk out I look around for something to write with and something to write on. I see she had a desk and on the desk was a coffee cup full of pens and pencils. There was paper too.

I grab the piece of paper and a sharpened pencil. I start to write something for her to read when she wakes up. Once finished, I get a piece of tape and tape it to the back of her door. I go to leave but before I do, I look back to see her happy and peaceful face. Good, her being happy makes me happy.

I step out and close the door behind me quietly. I restart my walk to the firing range.

 _Ten minutes latter_

I fires off another shot from my weathered 10mm handgun. Hitting the target right where the eyes would be again for the dozenth time. I unload my mag and load a new one in, getting ready for the next set of targets.

"There any more room over there?"

The sudden voice startled me for a moment but I regained my composure. I turned around and I saw another person I haven't seen before. He was wearing something similar to the hats of the NCR rangers. He had a prosthetic and a holster housing some kind of six-shooter that I haven't seen before.

I finished inspecting his weapon as he looked at me, inspecting me as well. He soon stops as well as we look at each other as he repeats the question. "There any more room over there?"

I nod. "There's plenty."

He walks over to my right as his boots jingle against the ground. He presses a button as a few new targets pop up. He draws his pistol and fires off all six bullets, hitting them dead in the head.

I holster my weathered 10mm and I draw Lucky. I set up the target a bit farther away from where his were. I fire off six shots in rapid concession, hitting them in the same place as him.

He clicks his tongue at my actions and accuracy with my bullets. "So, I heard someone may be faster than me when it comes to shootin'."

I reload Lucky. "Yeah, what of it?"

He too reloads. "That wouldn't happen to be you, would it?"

I put up new targets for us to shoot. "I don't know. Maybe yes, maybe no but I have a better question."

I grin as I spin Lucky around my finger. "Would you like to find out?"

He moves his cigar to the other side of his mouth, smirking. "That right there pardner, sounds like a challenge."

I stop spinning Lucky and look at him. "What if it is?"

He tipped his head down a bit but his cigar still glowed under the shade of his hat and his still present smirk could be seen. "Then I accept."

My grin grew bigger.

"Good."

 _(Tracer's pov, one hour latter)_

I groggily open my eyes as I adjust to my surroundings. I could see that I'm inside my room and not the Watchpoints medbay. Someone must have carried me here. I look to my night stand to see my alarm clock and it says 5:15 P.M.

I get up out of the bed albeit slow but more refreshed than before. All the walking, running, and worrying did a number on me. I head the the bathroom to get rid of all the sweat and filth from today.

 _15 minutes latter_

I come out of the shower refreshed and far cleaner than before. I put on a new change of, clothes as well as my chronal accelerator. Once those were on, I head to the door to see where everyone is at.

I open the door but my door doesn't look right. I close it and I see a piece of paper taped to my door. I pick it up and read it.

 _ **Lena, thank you. You being by my side when I was hurt meant a lot to me. Most of my other friends or companions would have left to go to a bar, talk to the locals or something. But you stayed, and for that I am grateful. Sorry if you wanted to be the first one to see me when I awoke but you were sleeping and I couldn't deny an pretty girl her beauty sleep. So I carried you to your room so you could be more comfortable than a hospital chair. If you need me, I will be down by the firing range. ~Courier**_

 _ **P.S. Make sure to lock your door when we you leave for a mission. You never know what might happen when you're away for a mission.**_

I smile as my cheeks grow red. He carried me to my room and called me pretty. Today is a good day _indeed_. Sucks I wasn't awake when he was but he did tell me where to find him and tell me where to find him. For some reason though, he did not take his hat from me. Maybe he didn't see it when I was sleeping because it is still on my bed.

I put the note on my desk and I grab his hat. I step out my room, locking the door this time. I turn and leave the dorms, heading to a specific destination.

I walk past the medbay and further down I could hear the sound of gunfire. I walk a little faster and from there I could see Courier without his hat, shooting away at any targets popping up. A little to his left I could see a very distinguishable cowboy with a very distinguishable gun also shooting away at the targets too. Both of them trying to out pace the other.

I sneak my way behind Courier and wait for him to be done shooting. As soon as he stops, he begins to refill his gun. I jump and hug him in my trade mark bear hug. He stops reloading and I could see part of his smile spread on his face with my head on his shoulder. "Good to see you too Lena."

I grin. "Good to see you back up and running love. You gave us a nasty scare back there in Switzerland."

He holds one of my hands. "Yeah, sorry about that. Just wanted to keep you guys safe and besides, she looked like she challenged me."

I get off him and spin him around to face me. mcCree just chuckles at our interactions. I take the hat I had in my hands and put back where it belongs. I take the edge of the hat and straighten it out so he looked just like he always does, just the way I like it.

He tilts his head back up so his amber eyes are not obscured from my view. "Thanks, I thought I lost this old thing."

I hug him again. His arms wrapping around my smaller form. "Your welcome and thank you for bringing me back to my room."

He chuckles. "And your welcome and I hope you got my note."

I snuggle in a bit deeper and he didn't seem to mind. "I did."

"Ahem."

I release my hug and jump backwards. McCree was standing there spinning his peacekeeper around his finger with a smirk on his face. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I interrupt something?"

I blushed hard as Courier straightened out his duster uncomfortably. McCree just laughs his ass off. After a minute or two he stops and catches his breath. "Oh boy, yall just too easy to tease."

Courier pulls out his trademark pistol Lucky. "Ha,ha,ha McCree. Its very funny and all but i'm starting to get a bit hungry so I'm going to make this quick."

He takes the cigar from his lips and drops it to the ground, stepping on it to put the embers out. "What is it?"

Courier presses a button, setting up only one target. "How about a little wager before I go get something to eat?"

McCree looks between Courier and the target. "What kind of wager?"

Courier empties all the bullets but one out of his gun and holsters it. He pulls up his pip-boy, searching through his inventory for something. After a moment he takes out a bottle of what looks to be whiskey, bourbon or scotch. "I wager this bottle of whiskey that I could shoot faster than you to hit that target over there."

McCree grins like he already won. "Now you're talkin my language."

Courier smiles. "Good then get ready and remember, just one bullet."

McCree nods in approval. He pulls out his peacemaker and takes out every bullet except for one. After doing so, he puts it back in its holster. "We ready to do this thing?"

Courier presses a button. "Athena, could you do me a favor real quick?"

 _ **/What is it?/**_

"Could you somehow monitor the the distance between us and the target?"

 _ **/Affirmative Courier./**_

"Thanks."

He turns to McCree. "Now we can do this."

McCree still has his grin on his face. "I hope your ready to lose that whiskey because…"

 _(Courier's pov)_

His eyes glowed a bit red as he reached for his gun. "...Its high noon."

I quickly draw and aim as soon as he did. "No, it's 5:40."

We both fired at the same time as far as I can tell. The funny part about this is that I already know where I was aiming. When everything settled, we saw the results.

McCree looked dumbstruck as we both looked apaun the undamaged target. "I missed? We missed?"

I holster my pistol. "I don't know. Athena, could you make a playback of so we can see where our bullets could have went?"

 _ **/Of course./**_

A hologram showed up in front of us and we could see exactly what happened frame by frame. My bullet hit his and caused his to miss the target by mere millimeters. My bullet was not that far off from where his is on the other side of the targets head. "Looks like it's a draw."

He holsters his pistol once again. "What now?"

I pull out my inventory and take out three shot glasses. "I say we share the whiskey since nobody won."

He nods at the idea. "Good but what is the third glass for?"

I hand him a shot glass. "We are splitting the whiskey fifty fifty. I'm going to share my half of the whiskey with Lena."

I hand her a shot glass as she graciously accepts. "Thanks love."

I take the bottle of whiskey and take the top off. I pour everybody a glass and put the bottle down. I than raise my shotglass a little. "I toast for a very successful mission today and having two new members to the team."

They too raised their glasses. "Cheers."

We all drank the shot down, the whiskey wasn't that bad. It was aged for a little while so it had a good flavor to it. I pour everybody another glass. McCree looked to me. "Fancy shootin' there pardner, you remind me of myself."

I shot the amber liquid down. "Good to know."

Lena takes another shot whiskey. "So McCree, your back in Overwatch. How was your trip coming over to the Watchpoint?"

He shrugs. "Wasn't too bad. Took a train to Texas to get to a plane to the Pearland Regional airport in Houston."

I chuckle. "I bet they don't give seats to big bad cowboys like yourself."

He pours himself another shot, the bottle almost empty. "If you reconed if it was because of my devilish good looks then I'm sad to say no. They been blaming Talon attacks on any Overwatch or Blackwatch Members, that would include me."

I grab the bottle and hand it to Lena. She takes it and pours the rest in the tiny shot glass. "Thanks."

I nod and putt the bottle away, might use it for something. "So how did you get on the train then if you couldn't ride it like a normal person?"

He takes out cigar and puts it between his lips. He takes out a lighter and tries to light it but doesn't get a flame going. I grab my engraved lighter and light his cigar for him. He smile appreciatively. "Thanks pardner'."

I put the lighter away. "So about your train ride?"

He takes a drag and exhales, blowing the cigar smoke into the air. "Yeah, I had to ride the top of the trian. It was a quiet ride and quite peaceful, till Talon showed up that is."

I pick up the shot glasses and put them back in my inventory. A light wind comes in and it makes Lena shiver a little. I noticed she wasn't wearing her trademark jacket. I take off my duster and wrap it around her as she gets more comfortable in it. McCree looks at us inquisitively. "Are you two in a relationship are somethin' like that?"

I shook my head no. "Nope, we are not in a relationship. We're just friends."

Lena was blushing hard, guess she thought of the idea of us being a couple or item. I'm not exactly against the idea but I've got too many demons I need conquering. Besides, who would want to be with a wasteland asshole like me?

He looks between the two of us with a sly grin. He chuckles. "You two keep tellin' yourselves that."

He takes out a pocket watch and looks at it. "Oh, would ya look at the time."

He puts the pocket watch away. "Well folks, guess I need to get going then. Winston said he needed to go over a few things with me."

We all remove ourselves from our seats and get back on our feet. He sticks his hand out for me and I give it a firm shake. "It was fun to shoot stuff with you Courier and it was great to see you again Lena."

She gingerly smiles as I nod. "Great to see you too McCree."

He tips his hat and walks away. "See you folks latter."

When he left there was a moment of silence between us. "So, I said that I would teach you a thing or two. Would you like to start now or to start tomorrow."

The wind blew some of her messy hairs in her face and she blew it out of the way. Blushing a little out of embarrassment. "I wouldn't mind starting today."

I nod, smiling. "Ok then, what would you like to learn?"

She thought for a moment till she had an idea. "How about we try some lock picking?"

I smiled. "Lock picking is a good skill to have and it is very useful. It can get you out of some very sticky situations when things go south. But in order to learn how to pick a lock, we need a lock to pick so do you have any idea where there is a lock?"

She nodded. "There is a cabinet with a lock on it in the kitchen."

I grin and start to walk to the cafeteria. "Off to the kitchen then. So before we begin, do you know anything about picking a lock?"

She shrugs. "Don't you just put the paper clip or bobby pin in the lock and keep shaking or turning it until it clicks?"

I shake my head. "No, lock picking is an art that I have the privilege of mastering. Lucky you to be learning from one of the best."

We entered the empty cafeteria, not a single soul in sight. I walk into the kitchen and turn around to look at Lena who was still wearing my duster. "So where is the lock?"

She points to the large kitchen cabinet against the wall. Said cabinet had a lock on it. I walked over and kneeled, inspecting it. From the looks of it, it was going to be a tough lock but not completely unbreakable. "Lena, you mind getting over here."

She walks over and leans her head over me. "Soooooo, can it be picked?"

I nod, pulling out a flat head screwdriver and a few bobby pins. "Yeah, it's going to be a tough lock but it's not unpickable."

I gesture for her to kneel down beside me. I hand her the screwdriver and one of the bobby pins. She looked confused. "Love, you know I don't know how to pick a lock."

I take the bobby pin out of her hands and bend the middle so it could fit in the lock. I hand it back to her and I very gently take her hands and guide it in the proper lock picking position. "Experience is the best teacher and dont worry, Im going to guide you."

I lean in close so I could have a better view of what she will be doing. Her cheeks grew red but I suppose I too feel 'uncomfortable' because of my close proximity. "Turn the bobby pin and listen."

She turns it, listening to the clicks of the lock. "Tell me what do you hear?"

"I hear clicks, lots of them. Some being louder than the others."

I nod my head. "Good, now start moving the bobby pin in different positions while trying to turn the screwdriver till you reach the sweet spot."

She starts doing as Instructed. "What is the 'sweet spot'?"

The locks start to shake a bit but she turns it a bit more. The sweet spot is the position of where the key would go in the lock. It is how you open it and not all of the locks have the same sweet spot."

She starts turning it, she almost reaches the end until she put too much force in the turning and the bobby pin broke. She pouted a little. "Aw rubbish, the pin broke."

I pull out another pin for her to try with. "Just because the pin broke doesn't mean that you should give up. The pin is just broke, not the lock so pull out the broke one and try again."

She puts it in and position it in the area she had it before before turning it a little. She starts turning the screwdriver again but the pin started to struggle. I grab her hands and turn the screwdriver gently back. "Ease up on the turning Lena, you don't want to break the lock again. So of the pin is struggling stop and turn it, ok?"

She nods slowly. I guided her hands and turn it slowly and eventually the lock unlocked and we can see what is in the kitchen cabinet. We both go up from the ground as she looked at her handy work with a big grin on her face. "I did it!"

I too grinned just as wide as her and raised my hand up for a high five. "Yeah you did!"

She immediately returned my gesture. "Thanks love, I couldn't have done this without you."

She rubs her shoulder after her enthusiasm wears off but is still apparent on her face. I chuckle. "Without me? You did all the work, I just gave you a few tips that's all."

She rolls her eyes. "Think what you want, we both know the truth."

I eye the cabinet behind her. "So do you know what is in the mysterious kitchen cabinet?"

Her grin turned into a sinister one. "Oh I know what is in the cabinet."

She grabbed the handles and opened the cabinet. Revealing jar after jar of a weird brown paste or something like that. I take out one of the jars and read the label. "Peanut Butter?"

She grabs a jar off one of the shelves in the cabinet. "Yeah, this is Winston's personal stash of peanut butter. He locks it so nobody can get into it."

I put the jar back on one of the many shelves filled with the stuff and close it. "Except us."

She pulls out a knife and a loaf of sliced bread. "Except us."

I see her take a few bananas out of one of the fridges as well as some a gallon of milk. I watch as she takes the top of the jar and begins to spread peanut butter on both sides of the bread. Once done, she takes one of the bananas and peels it. She takes a new knife and cuts the bannan into banana chips and puts it on one side of the bread covered with peanut butter. She then takes the over peice of bread she covered with peanut butter and smush them together to make a…. sandwich? Looks good, too bad we don't have any of those back in the Mojave.

I was still in my thoughts until I was handed the tasty looking food on a plate. I look at her confused. "Since you helped me you get the first taste of the spoils."

I still didn't take a bite. I waited until she made another on and poured two glasses of milk. SHe hands me one of the glasses as she looks at my plate with my still uneaten sandwich. "Why haven't you taken a bite yet?"

"I waited for you so we can eat together. It wouldn't feel right if I'm eating when you're still making another sandwich."

She smiled softly. "What a gentleman, you waited for me."

We started to walk out of the kitchen and to a table with our food and drinks. Once we sit down I pick up the sandwich and look at it. The sandwich looks strange yet appetizing. Lena waited for me to take a bite with a gentle smile gracing her face. "Well go on. If there is nothing I know better than anyone, its how to make a mean PB&B."

I take a bite and was greeted by a number of flavors which ranged from salty to sweet. I took another bite and soon I took another and another until my sandwich was gone and I was left with an empty plate. I feel the brown paste stuck to the roof of my mouth and I try and use my tongue to get it off. All the while Lena was giggling at my efforts. "You got some PB stuck on the roof of your mouth?"

I nod as she giggles harder. (heh)"You know there was a reason I got us a glass of milk."

I take the cup and start to drink it and soon there was nothing stuck in my mouth but a pleasant aftertaste of what was. "Now that was good eating right there."

She smiled and she too finished her food, sipping on a cup of milk. "Yeah, back in the day I would make these on my free days."

I nod and take our plates and cups. She gets up and helps me clean them as well as the cups and silverware. Once done we head outside and we were greeted by the lowering sun and a few stray clouds creating a beautiful evening. "Lena?"

"Yeah?"

"Want to watch the sunset?"

"Like you even needed to aks."

I smile as we head to the edge of the Watchpoint, the same place as before. That area has the best view. At least I have good company to watch it with.

 **There, chapter fourteen done and one step closer to chapter twenty one. This took a little longer than I would have liked but I like writing these for you guys. Also I read through some of the comments and thanks guys for the support and suggestions. I will make sure to keep those in mind, possibly even re-write chapter seventeen with what one of you guys said. Please, feel free to comment and review so I can do a better job at writing. -Paladin Leroy**


	19. Dog tales and a cuddle buddy

_(Courier's pov)_

We sit on the edge, both of our feet sticking over and dangling. The sky was beautiful, containing colors of orange, blue and yellow. Whatever the dying sun didn't touch, the sky separated it. Creating a wall of orange and blue.

I lean my head over to her. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know."

There was a few moments of silence between us, until I broke it.

"Lena?"

"Yeah?"

I lean and put my hands behind me, touching the ground and supporting my upper body. "You ever had any pets?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

I take my hat off and rest it on my lap. "I've been thinking, this place may seem better than the Mojave by a longshot but I miss somethings. I miss most of my guns, some of my friends but I miss my dog most of all. God do I miss him."

She looks over to me. "Him? Who is him?"

A cool breeze came in, making me grab my hat so it won't be lost again. "Rex."

She looked at me curiously. "Who is Rex?"

I run a hand into my hair. "Rex is my best friend, the most loyal dog a man could have. No matter what I did, he would always look at me the same way with a wagging tail and excited expression."

She looked at skeptically at me. "Really now, I thought I was your best friend?"

I put my hat back on. "You are but he is different. He was there when I first made it to Free Side, looking for work until I could make it into New Vegas."

She looked interested while keeping a small grin on her face. "What was he like?"

I too was smiling. "It seened like it was only yesterday that I was walking through the gates and into the king's school of impersonation, looking for work. Had to pay my way through but I was glad I did or I wouldn't have seen the hound who would be the one to be my best friend."

She was shifted her position. "I can remember my first pet."

I turn a bit. "What kind of pet was it?"

She puts her knees up to her chest and under the my duster to keep her warm from the cool breeze. "I had a dog Charlie. He was a terrier Pitbull with fur as grey as used charcoal and the biggest heart in all of London."

I brought one of my legs up and rested my arm on it. "What happened to him?"

She looked a little down struck. "He- he's is in a better place now."

I look down to hide my eyes. "Lena I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought this up."

She looks back out to the sunset. "It's alright, he was a good pooch and I have not or ever will forget him."

I look away from her and look back to the dying sunlight. "How did he go out? You don't need to tell me if you want to. I'm just curious."

(sigh)"He died protecting me."

I now suddenly feel like shit for asking. "Now I'm a complete asshole for asking that to begin with."

She curls up a little bit. "When I was fifteen years old when my family and I got Charlie. He was only a little puppy, (heh) he was so small and Absolutely adorable."

She points to my pip-boy. "He was a little smaller than your pip-boy."

I look at my pip-boy as she looks at the sunset again. "When we got him, he was only two months old. He was very shy when he saw me but after a week or two of taking care of him, he warmed up to me. We would always go on walks, play around the park and house, do everything together."

Tears started coming to her eyes. "H-he was everything to me. He was only a two years old when I-I lost him."

She starts to cry. I instantly wrap my arms arm around her and help her let it all out. "I was at a the local diner with some of my friends. The owner was a family friend so he let Charlie inside, even gave him some extra meat he had. It was getting late so I decided to take a shortcut through an alley. We were almost out until thais shady looking guy walks up to us. He pulled a gun on us and wanted all my money and valuables He pr-protected m-me from that _**FUCKING**_ thug! (sob) That wanker killed him, I watched a-as he killed him."

She cries even harder. I start to rub her back to try and soothe her. "He tried to take my watch from my wrist but (sob) Charlie stopped him. H-he tackled him and fought him, anything to keep him away from me. He looked at me while this happened, he aimed his gun at me but Charlie took the shot for me. I think he had only one shot because he threw the gun and left."

 _(Tracer's pov, Flashback)_

I stood there and watched as he ran, petrified at what he just did. Charlie was starting to limp over to me before he dropped to the ground, bleeding from the abdomen. I rush over and lay his head on my lap. I reach into my pocket and pull out my phone and call the police.

" **This is 101, what is your emergency?"**

"P-please get here quick, someone tried mugging me in an alley at Blenheim Cres and my dog has been shot. Pl-please get here quick, send an ambulance, vet I don't know something!"

" **Ma'am, calm down. We are on our way."**

I put my phone away and put one of my hands on Charlie's bleeding wound. Petting him with the other while he whimpered. "Shhhhhhh. Shhhhhhh. It's okay boy, its okay Im here."

His breathing became harsh and ragged as blood continued to seep through the wound. And onto my fingers, staining them crimson. His eyes started to droop little by little every second. "Hey, Hey Charlie stay awake! Come on, don't close your eyes. (sob) P-please don't close them."

He was trying to stay awake, trying to stay with me. I could hear the sirens off in the distance, must be the police. I keep my eyes on him though. He whimpers again and starts to lean his head up until his muzzle was in front of mine. He leaned forward and licked my nose before collapsing back onto my lap. His eyes start to close. "Charlie NO! Please don't, (sob) I don't want t- (sob) to lose you!"

He closes his eyes, deaf to my pleas and sobbing. His breathing begins to become shorter and shorter until… It stopped. I start to shake him, trying to wake him up. "No, no, NO! God NO! Charlie WAKE UP! PLEASE! Wake up! Please! Please….."

He wouldn't open his eyes, he wouldn't groan and get up like he always did every morning. He just laid there, quiet and unresponsive. He's gone, my best friend in the world is gone. What I do to deserve this. WHAT DID I DO!

I pulled him close, just like I do every night he lays in my bed. I cried, I cried harder than I had ever done before. I didn't know how long I was sitting there but it felt like hours. Eventually the police were here and behind it was an animal ambulance. They got out and picked up Charlie and carried him to the van. After that the van drove off.

One of the cops came over to me and rested a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, hey are you alright? Are you hurt?"

I shook my head no. The officer helped me up and to the squad car. I got in as he went to talk to the other officer. "You just wait right there, alright lass?"

I didn't answer but he knew I heard him. After a few minutes af talking between each other they came back to the car and opened the door. He got on one of his knees to look at me face to face. "Lass, I'm going to ask you a few questions alright?"

I still sat there, stone faced and full of sadness and guilt. The other officer jabbed at the other one. "See, what did I tell you sarge. She's a vegetable already."

The 'sarge' grabbed the other one by the collar. "One more word out of you and your going to lose your badge constable. I mean it."

He put his hands up defensively. The sarge looked back at me. "Lass, you said you were mugged correct? If you could describe the suspect it would really help us nab em."

I still stayed there quietly. (sigh) "Could you please describe the mugging please?"

I still couldn't say a word, wouldn't. "Is there anything you could tell us about em, anything at all?"

I looked over by the pile of trash, where the murderer threw away his tool. He notices this and he looks to where I was looking. He takes out a pair of gloves and puts them on. He steps around… the blood and to the piles of trash bags. He starts to search until he found it and picked it up.

He was holding the pistol he used to kill Charlie, to kill one of the few things in the world I care about most. "Ah, the perp's weapon I assume."

He pulls out a flashlight and looked at it more closely. "Still has the fingerprints too."

He walked back over to me and looked me straight in the eyes. "Thank you lass, with this we could find the person responsible for your dog and once we get him we will contact you."

He closed the car door and they got back into the driver and passenger seats. Heading to the police station to help me.

 _( Courier's pov, present day)_

Lena's head was still on my tear stained shirt. "They took me to the police station and helped me until my family arrived. They brought me back home, nobody saying a word."

My grip is still strong around her. Not tight but strong. "Lena, I'm so sorry."

She leaned her head onto my shoulder. "It's okay, he was a good dog and he died doing what he thought was right."

I wrap my other arm around her, holding her closer. " But still I'm sorry, I still shouldn't have asked. Im reopening old wounds that should not be opened again."

(sniff) "It's okay, I just miss is all."

I pull her closer to me, letting her to shed a few tears onto my shirt. "You want to know something?"

She leans her head up, allowing her red, puffy eyes to meet mine. "What?"

I reach my unoccupied hand and wipe the tears away from her face. "You're stronger than me, if I had lost Rex I…..wouldn't know what I would do with myself. I have lost people before but losing Rex would break me. He is my pride and joy out in that hell hole."

She smiles before she nuzzled her head under my chin, wrapping me in a tight hug. "Thank you Courier."

"It's my fault to begin with so don't thank me."

After what felt like hours, which were more than likely minutes. She lets go and goes back to her original position, leaning her head onto my shoulder. She begins to chuckle a little. "Some sunset right?"

I too begin chuckling. "Yeah, perfect sunset became a sad and sappy moment."

She playfully punches me on the arm. "Yeah but everyone has to have one sometime. It allows us to feel like people rather than heroes or saviors."

I put my gaze down and onto the vast waters crashing against. "I guess, I can't really let anyone know what goes on in my head. Not that many people to trust, to talk to. Besides you and the others of course."

She clasps her hands together with a gentle smile. "Then why don't you tell me what is on your mind? You can trust me, you know that."

(sigh)"I don't know, what if I told you something you didn't want to hear? What if I say something that will bring up more painful memories for you?"

She rolled her eyes. "I get your worried about me but this isn't always about me. It's about you right now so tell me something. Just think of this as a therapy session."

What to say, what to say? Perhaps I could talk about the Sierra Madre? Lots of people dig that story and it does help me cope with what I saw in that hell hole. "Well….."

She tilts her head a little. "Well what?"

I think back and try to remember all of the details, getting ready to tell the tale again. "How about another Courier tale?"

She almost looked giddy when I said that. "Alright, another tale from the wastes!"

I laugh at her enthusiasm for another one of my stories. It's like a kid wanting to learn what happened at the end of a bedtime story but the parent stopped and left it on a cliffhanger. "Alright, you better get comfortable because we are going to be here for a while."

Turned to face me fully with her legs crossed and a genuine smile across her face. I hope she's ready because this is going to be a while.

 _(A few hours latter)_

"When I dealt with the security, I was able to get to the vault."

She was looking tired, still sitting where she was. "What happened next?"

"I got to the vault and opened it and disabled the vault security protocols, there was a tables full of…."

"Full of what?"

I pull up my pip-boy and pull out my reward for going through hell and back. Completing the heist that was never finished. "These."

She looked awestruck because I was holding a genuine bar of gold. So small, so heavy and so worth going through the trouble for. "Is that a bar of gold love?"

I nod. "Yes it is, this is only one of the thirty seven gold bars I managed to get out of the sierra Madre. The rest is back in the Lucky Thirty Eight.."

I hand her the bar to look at. The weight almost made her drop it as she feels the imprinted words and numbers. "It's awfully heavy aint it? You said you got thirty seven out right?"

I roll my shoulder. "Yeah, I almost killed myself trying to. Finding it wasn't the hard part… It's letting go. (psh)Letting go my ass."

She looked between me and the gold bar. "No kidding."

She hands me the gold bar again. I feel the smooth and shiny surface. "Getting the gold out almost killed me, besides the weight there was a bigger problem. The vault door locked behind me, trapping me with the gold. Good thing that Elijah, the mother fucker appeared on the monitor. Letting me talk to him and luckily convince him to come to the vault to finish me off."

I put the bar of gold back in my inventory. "Once he came down, I snuck around him before he sealed the door off from me. He fell into my trap and is currently locked in the Sierra Madre's vault to this very day."

She looked even more tired, yet still interested in the story. "That was (yawn) one hell of a story."

I smile and get up off my seat from the ground. Looking out onto the horizon, where the sun used to be. After an hour or two, it finally died out and the sky was a void of what it once was. "Indeed. I stopped Father Elijah from destroying the Mojave, got all the loot, one good story to tell people and the scars and nightmares that will never leave my mind."

She looked a little sympathetic. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

I continue to look out to the sea. "Its fine, its just.."

She removed herself from her seat from the ground. "Just what?"

(sigh) "Do you ever think to yourself, that sometimes the past should be left alone and we should start fresh and new? Not build off of the foundations of the old world but to start something different? That people should not meddle with what was left behind?"

She shrugs. "Sometimes. People should sometimes leave the past behind because it could disturb the people, maybe even the world with what remains or with what happened."

I look back at her. "But isn't that what Overwatch is? Something of the past?"

She nods. "Yeah, Overwatch has been dead for about five years and people were starting to lose hope. In those five years, the world has been tearing itself apart because of Talons, racism and other things. We are reforming and remaking Overwatch to be better than what it was back then so it could be more help than harmful."

I look back out to the expanse sea. "What if you reawaken your ghosts, your shadow of what Overwatch was? What if that comes back to haunt us?"

She looked confused. "What do you mean?"

I looked back at her in all seriousness. "What if some old foe of Overwatch comes back? What if an ex Overwatch agent comes back to try and stop us. To try and prevent us from helping the world?"

"No ex Overwatch agent is coming for us. If they were, then they would have gave up all that we stood for. All that we sacrificed in the Omnic war."

I crossed my arms. "Maybe, maybe you're right. Im probably just paranoid, I keep comparing

This world to mine. I guess my conscience is still trying to make sense of it all after these past few days."

Her eyes started to droop. "Yeah, I suppose. (yawn) Being out in the wasteland would make you paranoid. Never know what is out there."

I nod. "Yeah, what I see out there doesn't scare me. It's usually what I don't see."

She nodded and started trying to walk back to the dorms, nearly falling. I caught her and picked her up bridal style. "You look tired."

She gave me a 'you don't say?' look. "What gave that away? My yawning or my falling?"

I start to walk to the dorms with her in my arms. "A bit of both actually."

She chuckles and scooch closer to my chest, blushing a little. "Funny."

We soon made it to Lena's room and I try to open the door with one hand. The door wouldn't open, must be locked. "Lena, you got your key on you?"

I got no response so I shook her a little. She jolted up and looked at me with a tired expression. "What… What did you want?"

"You got a key or something?"

She pulls a key out, closing eyes again to go back to sleep. "Hmmmm here you go…."

I take the key out and open the door with her still in my arms. I walk in and head to her bed, laying her down. Once she is on the bed, she took off my duster and her chronal accelerator. She handed me my duster. "Thanks."

I turn around to leave but she grabbed my hand, not letting me go. I look down at her as she looks at me with lidded eyes, purely made out of tiredness. "Please… don't go… I need a (yawn) cuddle buddy tonight….."

I pull up my pip-boy and look at the time. It was 1:45 AM. I put my pip-boy away. (sigh) "I still do owe you for earlier."

She smiles a little. "Yeah, you do….. You can repay me by getting in the bloody bed…."

I put my duster on one of the chairs in the room and I take my boot off. Setting them by the door before i climbed in bed and she immediately cuddled up to me. Resting her head on top of my chest where my heart would be. "Nighty night Courier."

I wrap my arms around her, keeping her close for the night. "Good night Lena."

I could hear her light breathing and soon after I could feel myself drift off to the land of dreams and memories.

 **Hey guys and gals, sorry this chapter was a bit late. I was having trouble coming up with something to write about for this chapter and it didn't help that my computer had an update that took a little while, putting me a day behind schedule. Also, what did you guys think of Tracer having a dog when she was younger? If she did have a dog, I would have imagined it to be big and fearsome but acts sweet and nice. I also apologise if I made you guys sad with how I introduced him. I'm sorry this chapter was a bit shorter than the past few. Holy crap am I saying sorry today, I just needed to apologize to you guys. Remember to review and comments. -Paladin Leroy**

 **P.S. #CharliethePitbull**


	20. Memories and moments

_(Courier's dream)_

We made it to the elevator, heading to the lower levels of the temple. The deeper I went, the higher the tension grows and the guilt never wavering. After a minute or two, the elevator stops. Opening the doors and revealing the biggest missile silo in what was left in the Divide. And at the end, I could see him. Standing there with the old world flag imprinted onto the back of his duster.

I walk forward with ED-E behind me. Step by agonizing step, I reach him. The man who knows me more than I even know myself.

He turned around and looked at me, dead in the eyes as the missile emerged from the hatch behind him. Ready to fire.

"Your city Vegas, lies in the other direction… with the rest of its slaves. Or is it just, you, Courier, without the lights and ghosts."

His cold gaze never tore away from mine. "Judging by your shadow… maybe you can't let your machine go. Doesn't matter now. Either way, the divide giants are awakening. The missiles here, on their way home. There is no way to stop them."

I tilted my head a little, hiding my face from his but still allowing me to see his emotionless face. "I still don't understand - why are you doing this?"

His face hardened. "You've answered your own question. And you'll die with that question on your lips. You don't see, listen - even when it's all around you, no matter if I nailed it into your head like a gift from Caesar."

His face went back to its original dead state. "You brought the DIvide to life, Courier. You walked the road. Brought the Bear, then the Bull, brought me, following your tracks."

I looked at his his hand, clenching and shaking uncontrollably. Out of hate, guilt or sadness. "And when I saw the Divide you made. I saw a second chance, a new way of thinking. My world - no longer the East."

His clenching stopped. "Then you brought the West in that package. Destroyed it all. Nearly killing me, flesh and spirit."

He crossed his arms as the silos sirens continued to blare. "You destroyed something larger than the Bear, greater than the Bull. And even when you could have turned away, you brought it again in that machine."

The guilt in the pit of my stomach grew, almost crushing me in its weight. Drowning me in the screams on the Divide's ghosts. Be it awake or asleep but he didn't care. "You destroyed a nation taking its first breath. A place that could have been my home. Now I will destroy yours."

I did not let my guilt show, I need to be strong. "If you meant to kill me, you should have done it long ago."

He took a brief moment to look at the nuclear missile before looking at me with his dead eyes. "Not if you believe in what you follow. Kill no Courier, Caesar's words. I honored them."

I stand there and listen whist ED-E hovers behind me, staying quiet. "Other Couriers could have been Legion - like me. The truth is, you serve nothing, believe nothing. Killing you… meaningless."

I raise my hat up, so he could see the poker face I doned. Trying to shove down the guilt of _my_ past actions. "What happened at the Divide, what I did, was an accident. What you're doing - it's madness."

He shook his head. "No, now there is purpose, I believe you when you say you were… careless. The Divide… the chip… the machine you brought here… Many messages can be taken from that, intended or not. What I do now is an act of conviction."

I took a step forward hardening my face. If there is anything I hate more than anything, it's the murdering of innocents. "If you blame me for the Divide, then let me answer for it, not others."

He scoffed. Blame you? No, learned from you. Both the weapon to kill a nation, and the strength to do it."

He takes a step forward towards me. "You showed me a road, a way to carry my message. You've already answered for what you've done. Now the flag you follow will answer for it."

I raised my arms, gesturing around the silo. "So what - you intend to bomb the Mojave?"

He again shakes his head no. "No, not the Mojave. The West, all that's been built since America died. Same symbols as before the war, now carried by a tribe of children. You walked the West, did not stay. You know the reason… the Bear grows without structure, follows a symbol without knowing its history."

He takes another step towards me, getting closer. "Without the NCR to support it, Vegas will fall to the Legion. That grave of lights, back to dust and ghosts, as was meant."

"After this, only one flag will remain over the Mojave. Let that one fly, or destroy itself."

I steel myself, not liking that he was getting closer. "You can't destroy the West, even with all the missiles here."

"No need to destroy the Bear, just cut its throat."

He takes another step. "You taught me that at the Divide - only need to cut off the supply line, the road, the watch something great die."

He take another step, three more and he will be right in front of me. "I'll turn the Long 15 into miles of fire, cut off the Mojave, NCR will fall back, lose Hoover Dam… and leave their throats exposed to the Legion."

I look in his eyes, composed of the dead and suffering from long ago. "Even if you have no faith in Vegas, I do... And my actions have proven it."

He crosses his arms, looking at me with anger and a little bit of… surprise? "Your actions have carried strength. More importantly, not for House, but for the families on the strip."

"If the ghost of of Vegas have come from behind their wall to speak for the West, I'll hear their words."

He took another step, two left. "If you believe that Vegas does not deserve to die as the Bear does… then answer me why."

I gave him a look of conviction, as much as I could muster. "You told me once I gave life to the Divide. I can do it again, and give life to Vegas."

He nods. "History have proven this. Our history."

He realigned his eyes on me. "And you think that you have this strength? Enough to hold up the NCR, long enough so Vegas may live again."

He takes another step, one left. "Even if you speak for Vegas and is ghosts, nothing you can do can prevent the missiles launch. Convincing me changes nothing."

I take off my hat and hold it my hand. Revealing my face fully to him. "I believe that one person can make… or break… a nation. You already know this."

He gestures one of his hands to the elevator. "It may be… that as much destruction has been written in the earth here… you may build something else, as built the Divide."

He takes the final step, standing before me. "You have spoken truly. There is a shadow of a nation behind you, the hope of the people… yet it may not matter. The Divide stands against us."

"The Divide? What do you mean?"

He looks off to the elevator. "Our enemies gather outside… shadows of the Bear and Bull… they will have found their way in just as you did."

Oh fuck, this just went from bad to total shit storm. "It was always my intention - incase I could not kill you, the marked men would flood this place, cut off your escape."

He gestured his arm out for me, I reach and grab him by the forearm as he does to me. A sign of kinship or brotherhood. "If we can not prevent what comes, then let us make our stand here. Two Couriers, together, at the Divide."

I nod firmly and we let go of each other. I draw out my All-American as the Marked men pour into the silo's main room.

Ulysses pulls out a 12.7mm submachine gun, ready to fight alongside me. "They Come for us, East and West alike."

As the fighting started, my vision darkened until there was nothing.

 _(Courier's pov, real world)_

I jumped up gasping for air. I take a few moments to breathe, in hailing the needed oxygen. The pain, the guilt, it's so overwhelming. This is why I can't have dreams, only memories. So I won't forget what I've done. What I destroyed or taken away. It just never ends. No Matter where I go, it just doesn't stop.

"Hey… are you alright?"

I look to my right and I see Lena. She looked tired but better than earlier. She can see my excessive breathing, my guilty expression. She can see me at my most vulnerable points. She lays a hand on my shoulder. "Are you alright love, you look like you saw a ghost."

Its funny how right she is on that statement. I brought my hand up and laid it on top of hers, grasping it in a gentle grip. I make a gentle forced smile to try and convince her I'm fine. "Morning beautiful. Why are you up?"

She blushed and looked at me a little sheepishly. "I could say the same thing about you."

"Its nothing, just... go back to bed."

"Where are you going?"

I took her hand off me and start to climb out of bed. Once out, I grab my hat and duster. "I'm sorry, I just need time to think."

I walk out the door. Lena just looks at my exit with a downstruck expression. Like if I had hurt her.

 _(unknown pov)_

I watch him walk out of the dorms, face hidden by his hat. He continues to walk until he reaches the edge and sits down.

I make my way from the ledge and make my way to ground level. Once there, I slowly make my way over to him. Keeping my presence hidden, soon I can see him more easily. Worn leather duster, faded stenson, strange device on his wrist. Looks like another wanna be cowboy just like Jesse. I keep my voice under my breath. "What do they see in you?"

"I don't know. Maybe its my skills, maybe it's my magnetic personality. Who really knows."

I stood there stunned, he heard me clearly even though I was a couple dozen feet away. I barely even spoke loud enough to hear myself. I pull out my pulse rifle, aiming it at the strange man. "Who did you know I was there?"

He scoffed and looked over the edge. "I'm just that perceptive, nothing can really sneak around me without getting noticed. Did not help that you decided to say something as well."

He looked at me with a deadpan stare. "Jesus Christ, do you see me pointing anything at you do you?"

I keep my gun up. He looks at me, studying me more just as I do to him. "Whats with the red visor? Are wearing it because it looks cool or are you ugly?"

I I would give him a confused stare but this mask keeps my face hidden as well as my facial expressions. "Whats with the stenson, you trying to look like a cliche cowboy or just because you can?"

He looks back to the ledge and the waters below. "Touche."

I start to lower my gun. "Why are you out here this early? Even for Overwatch, this is early."

(sigh) "memories, the ones I want to forget but my mind keeps reminding me."

I stand next to him. "At least I'm not the only one."

He chuckles. "So what was your fuck up or tragedy?"

"I was too caring and too involved with people. Everyone got hurt, emotionally and physically. I was reborn in the aftermath, fixing the world piece by piece."

"Well, good luck with your nightmares buddy. I know I'm having fun with mine."

The man in the duster gets up from his seat on the ground. "Why are you here exactly? You don't look like Talon and you don't look like a government agent."

I shifted a little. "I'm here for intel, I need to know what is going on."

He nodded. "Yeah, I guess but tell me something? Are you with Overwatch or are you against it? Don't even bother bullshitting me, I know a lie when I see it."

I look off in the distance. "I'm on my own."

He moves his hand to his hip, awfully close to a holstered revolver. "You didn't answer my question?"

I look back to him. "I'm with the good side, not with Overwatch but the good side."

He moves his hand away from his holstered weapon. "Good, then I don't need to shoot you then."

"I suppose not."

He pulls up his device on his forearm. "Well since we're just standing here, mind telling me your name?"

"Soldier 76"

He puts the device down, holding a hand out for me while holding some kind of fruit in the other. "Names Courier, nice to meet you Soldier 76."

I shake his hand as the sun started to rise. I look at my watch and see it is 8:30. Few more minutes later than planned. "I need to leave."

He munches on his fruit. "Yeah, guess people are starting wake up by now. I'd suggest you leave before anyone notices, that is if you plan to make your intrusion a secret."

I nod and leave the way I came in. Ledge to ledge until I'm on the exterior of Watchpoint Gibraltar.

 _(Courier's pov)_

I watch the strange masked man leave the Watchpoint, eating my mutfruit while watching. "What a strange guy."

"What are you doing out here? Why did you leave?"

I turn around and I saw Lena, sporting her normal clothes. Jacket, leggings, accelerator and all. I turn away and look out at the clouded sunrise. "I remembered something."

She walked over to me, standing to my left. "What did you remember?"

I finish munching on my and get ready to throw it over the edge. "I don't feel like talking about it."

I throw it as hard as I can up and out towards the water. She grabs my arm gently but firmly. "Why did you throw that over the edge?"

Shrug her arm off and pull out my anti-material rifle. "Target practice and an introduction."

I take aim and line up the shot, estimating the rate the eaten fruit is falling. I fire off only one shot. Hitting it and making it into nothing but paste for the birds to eat. After the successful shot, I put my rifle away. I look to Lena who looked at me a bit shocked. "Oi... is that what we're going to be doing today?"

I smile a bit. "Yep, i'm going to teach you how to shoot-"

"But I already know how to shoot, why would you need to teach me something…"

I put my hand up, signaling for her to stop. Once she did, I continued what I was saying. "As I was saying, I'm going to teach you how to shoot MY way."

She looked like she wanted something. "Does that mean I get to shoot some of your guns by any chance..."

I nod. "Yes, yes it does."

She did a fist pump. "Yeah! Soooooo, what are we going to start with?"

I pull up my inventory and take out a few mut fruits, two banana yuccas and two purified waters. "We're going to start with breakfast first."

She smiles and take a banana yucca and one of the waters. We walked to the shooting range while eating on our way there. "So, how did you sleep?"

She blushed a little. "I slept alright, how about you?"

(sigh) "Nothing I can't get over."

She looked concerned, saddened even. "Are you sure, you can always talk to me. It might make you feel better."

We made it to the shooting range as I finish another mut fruit. "It's not something I share lightly."

She slowly nods. "I understand, just don't forget that you can talk to me when you're ready to."

I start to eat my banana yucca. "Why would I forget? You're the closest person I've got in this world and that's a true fact."

She grins before taking a mut fruit. "Good."

It was a few more minutes before we finished our food and drinks. Once that was done I pull up my pip-boy. "You have your pistols on you?"

"No."

"Would you do me a favor and go get them?"

"Sure."

It took a moment or two but she came back with her weapons. I pull out an array of weapons and lay them on the stand in front of us, each with their own respected ammo. I look back to her twirling her pistols. "Mind if I try one of your guns, to try and see what kind of level you should start at."

She stops and hands me one of her pistols. A sleek design, lightweight too. Good for hit and running. I press a few buttons and pull up a few targets. I aim and start shooting, quickly getting used to the small gun's recoil. After it needs to reload I stop and turn around and hand her the gun.

I press a button and set up new targets. "Aright, I want you to shoot those targets to see how well you shoot and deal with recoil."

She nods and gets in position. She starts to fire and hits most of the targets with decent accuracy. Once done, she cools her pistols down and turns to me expectantly. "How did I do?"

I shake my head, chuckling a bit. "Oh, we're not done yet. I want you to shoot your targets with both of your pistols now. Then I will tell you."

She shrugs as I set up some new targets to shoot. She gets in firing position again and starts to shoot. After shes done she looks to me. "So how bout now?"

I nod. "I can see where your strengths lie, why you are more of a run and gun gal. You are more proficient with these dual wield pulse pistols. I assume your accuracy is more than likely from years of experience and you have had time to hone your shots? Are you're familiar with any other kind of firearm or weapon?"

She shook her head. "Not really, I mean I've had experience using an array of firearms but none of them really stuck to me like these two beauties."

I smile and grab the first gun off the table. I pull out the magazine to make sure it's loaded before cocking it. "Your array of weapons is about to get even bigger."

I hand her the light in shining darkness handgun that a very good friend of mine gave me. She looks at the gun in interest. Admiring the snakeskin grip and the etched foreign words on the slide of the gun. I press a button. "Hey Athena?"

" _ **Yes Courier?"**_

"Can you keep setting up targets up after we shoot them?"

" _ **Of course Courier. Is there anything else?"**_

"Naw, thanks though."

I turn to Lena. "Get in position please."

She gets in position and aims the .45 handgun. "Alright, let's try this."

She pulls the trigger but is knocked a little off balance. Her face is one of little confusion and surprise. Guess I forgot to tell her. She turned to me, a bit flustered and embarrassed. "Why didn't you tell me this thing is automatic?"

I take out another magazine and hand it to her. She grabs it and looks at me strangely. "You know I don't know how to reload it, right?"

I put my hand on the gun in her hands. "Then here, let me show you."

I press the button between the trigger and grip. The magazine slides out with ease and I hand it back to her. I take one of her hands and put it on the grip and I take her hand thats holding the magazine and show her how to put the mag in. The slide is still pulled back so I press the switch on the right side of the gun, sending it back in its default position. "I hope you got it Lena."

I look at her face which is flushed crimson red. Y-yeah, I um- I got it."

I simply nod. "Good, but I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I thought it would be best to start you off with something similar to the type of weapon you use."

She nods. "Thank you and it's alright. It just caught me off a little."

I put the empty mag back into my inventory. "Ok, do you think you could try shooting again? Now that you know."

She nods enthusiastically. "Alright, I got it this time."

She gets back into firing position and fires off all of the bullets. Each one hitting their mark with with five torso shots and three head shots. "Good shooting lena."

She blushed. "Thank love."

I smile and hand her a fresh mag for her to reload. "We're going to do this a few more times, if that's okay with you?"

She fumbled with the magazine before she finally got it in the gun and released the slide. "Absolutely, I love shooting your guns."

I shrug. "Doesn't everybody?"

She we both shared a brief chuckle before we got back to what we're doing. Who knows how long we were there. Sharing stories, telling jokes, shooting stuff and what not.

 _A few hours latter_

"Alright, now shoulder the stock right here and put your left hand here."

"Alright."

Right now, I'm behind her and guiding her into the basic shooting position for my All-American assault carbine. My left hand on hers, holding it just in the right position for her to accurately shoot it. Considering that she has never shot a rifle like this. "Now, you are holding it right. Good job."

She grinned. "Thanks but you helped me."

I decided to toy with her. "What? I didn't do any of this, it's all you. I'm choosing to recognise it."

She rolls her eyes at me. "That's just rubbish and you know it."

"Do I?"

"Yes, yes you do."

I raise my hands. "Eh, maybe I do."

She just shakes her head, still smiling. "Whatever floats your boat in that head of yours."

I look between the targets and her. "Would you mind doing a weapons demonstration madame Lena?"

She sarcastically sticks her nose in the air away from me. "That's madame Oxton to you messenger."

I pretend to cower a little. "Oh, many apologies madame Oxton. Please forgive my rudeness."

It didn't take much to get us laughing like buffoons. Our laughter probably could be heard from outside the shooting range. It took a few minutes for us to get back to what we were doing but we managed. Lena however was the first one to speak. "That was -he, he, he- a good one."

I'm still laughing a little. "ha, ha, ha- R-really?"

She gave me her signature smile with a small flush. "It was good. We got a couple kicks out of it."

I shake my head. Not many people would laugh at my petty jokes. I'm glad I met her, finally someone who would play along. "Thanks, but it wasn't that funny."

She gives me a nonchalant wave. "It was good love, I've haven't had a good laughing buddy in some time."

"I know right? Not many people like the little things in life. It feels so good to have someone who finally gets it."

She drummed her fingers on the carbine, giving a cautious yet adorable look. "So you're saying that... you're glad to have met me?"

I feel the uncomfortable feeling rise. "Yeah, I am glad I met you."

She blushed hard at my reply. "Well um… I'm am also glad I met you too, Courier."

There was a deafening silence between us. She spoke first. "This is awkward."

I scratch the back of my head. "Yeah, it's a little awkward."

I pull up my pip-boy and look at the time. Seeing it was 1:07 PM, guess we should go get something to eat. I pull down my pip-boy to see Lena zoning out a bit, blushing still present. I reach and tap on her shoulder. "Hey, Lena you there?"

She got out of her funk and looked at me. "What is it?"

I point to the exit to the firing range. "Wanna go get something to eat?"

She gingerly nods before running ahead of me. "Race ya!"

I start to run after her. "Hey, that's not fair!"

From room to room, we were still running. We passed Mercy the med bay, Winston in his lab, the dorms, everywhere. Seems she was trying to lose me or out run me. Or she is just playing with me. Either way, I'm having too much fun with this. I start to run faster with new vigor and I catch up to her. "Sup."

She looks to me, albeit shocked. "How are you keepin u? Nobody is able to catch up to me in a race."

I start to run faster, my heart beating in my ears. "Then call me the first one then."

Running through doorways and jumping over obstacles, I make it to the cafeteria just barely before Lena. She walks over and stis in one of the chairs. She was panting a little. "For a guy carrying a ton of guns, you run pretty fast."

I walk and sit down right next to her. "Yeah, but after lugging it for so long you get used to it. Hell, I'd feel exposed without any of my guns."

After a few minutes of resting, we can finally breathe straight. I look to Lena who was resting her head on my arm. "So, what would you like to eat?"

She gets up from her seat. "No, what would you like to eat?"

I get up from my seat. "You know you don't have fix us anything. I wouldn't have asked you if you wanted to go get something to eat if I wasn't willing to fix you something."

"Naw love, you beat me in that race fair and square. You deserve something anyways, for all you've done here."

"I guess if you're absolutely sure you want to make me something. Surprise me, I have no preference on food."

She nods and blinks to the kitchen. I sit there and wait for her. I pull up my pip-boy and take out a rag. I unholster Lucky and I begin to wipe the dirt off my gun, making it look cleaner than what it was before. After a few minutes of cleaning, I see Lena coming out of the kitchen with a big tray in her arms. I put the rag away and holster Lucky. She puts the tray down and hands me a fork and knife.

I look the concealed tray. "What is it?"

She takes the top off revealing it to be fried fish with fries. "Fish'n chips."

I stare at the wonderfully smelling food. "Never had fish'n chips before but I'm willing to try."

She sets the lid of the tray aside. "Now that's the spirit."

She hands me a plate and I take it, setting it down in front of me. She takes a bottle of 'ketchup' and puts some of the strange paste in the corner of her plate. She sees me looking at the red bottle. "You want some ketchup?"

I take the bottle and look at it before popping the top of and pouring some next to my fries. "Thanks for cooking."

She takes of bit of her fish. "Of Course, you provided for breakfast this morning and you have cooked for me plenty of times. It only seemed right."

I take a bit of my fish. Tastes different from what I expected but it was still great all the same. "So, is fish'n chips a local food from where you're from?"

She nods as she ate some of her fries. "Yeah, it's almost everywhere local. The big fancy restaurants don't have it though. I'm fine with that, I've been one for those fancy places anyway."

I take another bite. "Well, if we ever go to the UK we are going to go to whatever local place you want."

She rest her head in her hands, giving me a sly and cheeky smile. "Really now? How are you going to afford it?"

I eat some fries with ketchup on them. "I'll trade in my gold bar for whatever currency your country uses. The ketchup is good by the way."

A big grin forms on her face. "Realy! Then let's go to London the second we get, I know just the right place."

I nod. "Yeah, once I figure out how I will exchange it for cash."

She takes another bite of her fish. "Do you know how much a bar of pure gold is worth in the UK?"

Continue to eat my food. "How much is it worth?"

"Quite a lot just for one bar, but with all thirty seven. You would be loaded for life! You could live in luxury and not worry about anything with that kind of money."

I start to chuckle. "Good to know, but we are assuming that I can even get back."

"Don't worry none, if anyone knows how to get you back then it would be Winston. Besides, I thought you liked it here?"

"I do, But I want to grab a few things from home if possible and maybe pick someone up."

"Who?"

"Rex."

I pull up my pip-boy and take out a sunset sarsaparilla. "Hey Lena, you want a drink?"

She eats more of her fries. "What is it?"

I take out another bottle and hand it to her. "The damn best sarsaparilla you're ever going to find out in the Mojave."

I take off my bottle cap and she takes off hers. We clink the bottles together. "Cheers."

She giggles a little. "Cheers love."

We continue to eat and drink there was a silence after we finished our meals. Didn't know why we were still sitting here. Moment after moment, I could feel this 'uncomfortable' feeling again.

I look back at her as she looked at me. Her hazel eyes looking at my amber ones. I could feel a force or urge to get closer. I put my hand on top of hers as her fingers wrap around mine. She smiled, the sweetest smile I have ever seen. I slowly start to lean forward while she does the same. I could feel her hand trembling as I could feel her breath on my lips. I closed my eyes to savor the moment.

"Courier, Lena. WInston needs you two for mission briefing."

The sudden intrusion made us immediately move away from each other. Her twirling her hair as I pulled up my pip-boy and began looking through my inventory. I turned around to see McCree leaning in the doorway. "Oh, McCree I didn't see you there. What did you need again?"

He gives me a shit eating grin. Fucking asshole. "You two need to head to Winstons's lab for mission briefing."

I nod and look to Lena who was blushing. I look back to him. "Yeah, just give us a moment to clean up."

He starts to leave. "Just get there soon."

I get out of my seat, picking up the plates and silverware. I turn to head to the kitchen for cleaning. I scrub and rinse until all the dishes are done. After that, I came back into the cafeteria where Lena was still sitting there. "You ready to go?"

She doesn't say anything. I can see she is zoning out hard, I snap my hands near her face and it seems to get her attention. "You alright?"

She shook her head and looked at, blushing a little. "Yeah! I mean uh…. Never better."

"Well, we shouldn't keep them waiting because we've got another mission briefing to attend."

She nods and gets out of her seat and she walks with me to Winston's lab. Makes me wonder though. What is going through her head right now, she seemed pretty out of it when I came in.

 **Well there we go, I finished chapter twenty. Took me a little while but I got it done for you guys. The first part took a little while to complete, having to write the entire dialogue word for word from the game. I intoduced Soldier 76 for you guys, he may not be an Overwatch member now in the story but he will be in a latter chapter. Also, I want you people to remember to post suggestions for the story. I'm always open for that and don't worry, there will be power armor in the story at some point. It's just a matter of when, where and how I put it in. Remember to comment and review. -Paladin Leroy**

 **P.S. Guess what happens next chapter?**


	21. A movie and revelations

_(Tracer's pov)_

Damn it! Just bloody damn it! I was so close but McCree ruined it, for the both of us! If McCree and I were both in a room alone, there would be hell to be fought.

I keep my thoughts to myself while Courier and I walk to Winston's lab. Courier doesn't seemed that phased about what just happened. Maybe he doesn't care… Or maybe he just doesn't let it show. I wont really know unless he tells me.

Courier and I reach the door to the lab, everybody was here already. Winston typing something on his terminal as always. Reinhardt polishing his hammer. Mercey sitting in one of the chairs in the room and McCree fiddling with his gun.

Courier was the first one to speak. "We're here folks, so what's the mission?"

Winston turns around. "The mission is recruiting more Overwatch veterans. This time it's in western North America and South Korea."

Courier crossed his arms. "What or should I say who, is in western North America?"

A map popped up behind Winston. "We are going after Genji Shimada. An Overwatch member who sustained injuries so extreme that most of his body is more machine than flesh."

I could feel my smile return to my face. "We're going after Genji!"

Winston noded. "Yes, we are going after Genji. It may have taken me a while but I have found him."

Reinhardt stops polishing his hammer. "You mean the swordsman from Japan?"

Winston typed a bit more on his terminal. "Yes, Genji left us before Overwatch was disbanded. The last thing he said to me was that he needed to walk a separate path, alone and only at the end will he find his answer."

Courier looked a bit confused? "Answer to what?"

Winston shrugs. "I can't say. He kept most of his problems to himself so hardly anybody would know."

I looked to Mercy. She seemed a little sad. "What's wrong love? Youve been quiet this whole time."

Mercy looked to me. (sigh)"It's nothing Lena, Just thinking about something."

Courier grabbed two chairs and set them down for me and him. "Thanks."

He waved his hand down. "No problem."

Courier looked to Winston. "So where exactly is he out in the west?"

"Somewhere you're very familiar with Courier."

Courier put his hands up. "Don't tell me-"

"He's in the Mojave desert."

Courier instantly took his hat off his head and threw it to the ground. "God Damn it!"

I laughed a little while I pick up his hat. "Something wrong?"

He runs a hand through his hair. "No, no, no, nothing at all…"

I take the hand that's running through his hair and set it on his lap. I put his hat back on his head, positioning it just right. "Don't worry none. I won't let no deathclaws hurt you."

He rolls his eyes. "That makes me feel so much better Lena."

I smile. "Good because it should."

Winston looks between us. "You two done? I've got more things to go over with everyone else."

I nod as Winston continued with mission briefing. "As I was saying, Genji is somewhere out in the Mojave desert. I couldn't get a precise location on where he is, the heat is probably jamming the signal. There being a lack of radio towers to use to track the signal doesn't help much either."

Courier looked at his pip-boy. "Winston, does the beacon signal give off any kind of radio frequency?"

Winston nodded. "Yes, it gives off an encrypted signal that only select few people can break said encryption. Why do you ask?"

Courier raised his pip-boy up. "My pip-boy has a radio on it. Maybe it could be tuned to find him."

Winston looked confused. "That wouldn't work because you would only get interferen-"

Winston stopped. He went to his terminal and started typing in rapid succession. I walked over to him and tapped him on his shoulder. "Hey...uh are you alright big guy?"

Winston nodded. "Yes I'm alright. I'm just testing something."

He pressed a button. "Athena, tune in on Genji's beacon. Then tune it on a separate radio across the room. Measure both the signals."

" _ **Yes Winston."**_

I could hear static from both ends of the room. "Winston, what are you up to?"

Winston didn't respond to my question. "Athena, is one signal stronger than the other?"

" _ **Yes, the signal on the terminal you're typing on is stronger than the one away from you."**_

Winston smiles. "Good, thank you."

He turned around to face all of us. "Ladys and gents, I have an idea."

Courier leans forward in his chair, a grin plastered on his face. "And what pray tell, would that be?"

"Courier, you were on to something. The signal could be traced to Genji's beacon. I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier but I'm glad you did. If you can tune the radio on your pip-boy to the signal, we can find Genji far more easily than combing the desert."

He nods. "Yeah and let me guess, I'm the one who is going to find him?"

Winston smiled and nodded. "Yes be cause you have a radio attached to your arm."

Courier crossed his arms. "Am I going alone or is someone coming with me?"

Winston shook his head. "No, you are going with someone because it is too dangerous for any of us to go alone anymore."

"So who is going with me?"

I crossed my fingers. Please be me. Please be me. Please be me.

"You're going with Lena."

I jumped in the air. "YES!"

Everyone looked at me strangely, while Courier was laughing his ass off. I blushed out of embarrassment. "Uhhhhhh, yay?"

After a minute of two Courier finished with his laughter. "So why is Lena going with me? Not that I mind."

Winston pulled up a map of this world's mojave desert. "She is going with you because you two work well with each other. However, she may not be attuned to the heat and drastic environment. This is another reason why you are going out there. You are more adapted and well adjusted to this type environment. Besides, Genji might not listen to a complete stranger but he might listen to someone he knows."

Courier nods. "Alright but how long are we going to be out there?"

Winston looks down. "This is going to be the hard part."

I looked at him curiously. "Why do you say that?"

He looks between the two of us. "You two are going to stay out there until you find him, we will try to get you as close as we can while staying under the USA's radar. After that you're on foot from there."

Courier looks at the map of the Mojave. "Alright, but what about food, water, shelter and what do we do if we gut stuck in a sticky situation?"

Winston rubs a hand over his eyes. "Improvise if you can but if things get too rough, you need to tell us to come get you ONLY if it is an emergency. For food water and shelter, I can only supply you two with some basic survival equipment, rations and a few bottles of water. You need to travel light for this mission."

I nod. "Alright, guess I need to pack some sunscreen then."

They all chuckle at my statement. Winston turned off the map. "Yes, that would be a good idea. I heard its quite hot and sunny this time of the year. You should also pack some extra clothing too."

I roll my eyes. Yes dad, anything else."

Winston laughed. "Yeah, brush your teeth, brush your hair and be in bed by nine or you're grounded."

That got a few more laughs out of everybody. Winston cleared his throat. "The mission will start a 6:00 AM tomorrow. While you two are out in the Mojave desert, we will be in South Korea to help deal with an old omnic war factory activating."

Courier nods. "Anything else?"

"Yes, there is also a possible Overwatch recrute that could greatly help us maintain peace in the world."

I lean forward. "Who would that be?"

He presses a button on the terminal, showing a picture of a korean girl wearing a jumpsuit and inside a mech suit. "We are going to try and recruit Hana Song, a famous mech pilot as well as gamer. She participated in multiple gaming events in South korea over the years and has been undefeated. The controls to her mech are very similar to the games she plays so she controls her mech like it's second nature."

Courier stroked his chin. "Interesting, very interesting."

Winston looked around to everyone. "Alright, mission briefing is over and everyone knows what to do You're all dismissed."

Everybody left but Winston, Courier and I. I turned to Courier. "So what now?"

He shrugs. "I don't know, what do you want to do?"

We walk out of Winston's lab and headed out side. Thinking to myself all the while. Wait, I wonder if there any movies out in the wasteland? What if Courier has never seen a movie! Now that would suck. "Hey Courier, I thought of something."

"What?"

I pointed back to where the dorms are. "Want to watch a movie?"

He gave me a confused look. "Movie? What is a movie?"

I could feel my heart shattering inside as my fears became true. I grabbed him and start to pull him to my room. "We need you to watch a movie right away, this is an emergency!"

He still looked confused but was laughing all the while. "Alright, alright, if this means so much to you then we will go watch a movie. Whatever that is?"

I'm practically dragging him at this point. "You say it like you had a choice love."

I pull him into my room and shut the door behind me, locking it.

 _(Courier's pov, two hours latter)_

Right now, I'm currently laying on Lena's bed with her snuggled into my arms. We watched a movie called 'star wars', a century old sci-fi movie. She said it was a classic and everybody should watch it. I am no exception to this.

I watched as the star sized space station blew up from one shot to its reactor. Pretty anticlimactic if I say, but the movie was still good by alrights.

I continued to watch until they were in a large room filled with people with the three main characters walking down the line to princess Leia. If I could say anything, I would say the music was the best part about this movie. It was awe inspiring as well as entertaining, too bad we don't have this out in the wasteland. People would kill to see this, LITERALLY kill. The credits started rolling.

"So, what did you think?"

I looked down at the adorable girl in my arms. "I thought it was a good movie to watch, considering that I have never seen a movie before. But I do have a few questions."

She pressed a button on the remote, turning off the movie. "Ask away."

"What was with there being a small thermal exhaust port on the death star? That was a major design flaw and they hardly even defend it with all the people on board."

She pet the remote on the bed. "You would have to watch Rouge One to know and I agree. They did underestimate the rebellion and didn't really defend it."

I look back at the now blank screen. "You said this was the first star wars ever made, why is it episode four and not episode one?"

She shrugged. "They were really weird on that, I don't even know myself."

I pulled her closer. "Hmmmm, can we watch another one soon?"

She got closer and rested her head on my chest. "Yeah, you didn't think this was a one time thing did you?"

I pull up my pip-boy to see the time, seeing it was currently 10:30 PM. "I hoped it wasn't a one time thing, I enjoyed watching it with you."

She clapped her hands twice, turning off the lights in the room. "Good, it wouldn't have been fun otherwise."

I took my hat off and set it on the night stand next to me. "I'm not allowed to leave, am I?"

I could feel her looking up, even if I couldn't see her. "I thought you didn't want to leave? Besides, your warm and I like it."

"I don't."

I pull up a blanket over us.

She takes one of my hands into hers. "Mhhhh, good... because I don't want you to…"

I smiled. Thinking of what could be like if I stayed, what I see now is good to me. A house, friends…

And possibly a family…

 _(Next morning)_

I started to open my eyes. Only seeing myself entangled in the arms of a very particular girl inside of a very particular room. I pull my left arm away, gently out of her hold to see what time it is now. It was 5 AM, good time to get everything ready.

I look down at Lena, a peaceful smile on her face. I hate to wake her from her dream but we need to get ready. I shake her gently, causing her to stir. "Hey, you need to wake up."

She held onto me even tighter. (sigh) "Lena, it's time for you to get up. We have a mission today."

She started to groggily open her eyes. She looked up with a tired expression as I just smiled. "Morning Earth, the sun says hello."

She laid her head back down. "Goodnight sun."

I shaked her a bit more. "Come on, don't be like that."

She didn't budge. I grabbed my hat and put it back on my head. I climbed out of bed but her arms around my torso stopped me. "No, don't go."

I took one of her hands and kissed the back of it. "Sorry beautiful, but we got work to do."

She groaned. "Fine, I'm up."

She released her grip and I climbed out of the bed. "Go wash yourself up, I'm going to my room so I can do the same. When your done, go to the cafeteria and I will cook us breakfast."

She gave me a sluggish grin. "Now getting out of bed is worth it."

She started heading to the bathroom, grabbing a new set of clothes on the way in. "See you in a few love."

I noded. "Likewise."

I grabbed my clothes and left her room, heading to my room to clean myself up.

 _(fifteen minutes latter)_

I walked out, completely refreshed. I walked out and shut my door, making sure it was locked.

I started my routinely walk to the cafeteria, basking it the morning's cool air. I looked off in the distance to where the sun normally rises. It hasn't even peaked over the horizon yet. I walked through the doors and I saw Lena sitting in one of the chairs at one of the tables. "Morning Lena."

She turned around and saw me. "Morning Courier, what's on the menu today?"

I thought for a moment. How about a new meat she hasn't tried yet? "Want to try Bighorner steak?"

"What's that?"

I shrug and walk to the kitchen. "It's like buffalo, or something like that. The meats very good if it's cooked right."

She nodded with her signature smile. "Can't wait to try it."

I snapped my fingers as I walked through the kitchen doors. "Now that's the spirit."

I took out the meat and a handful of other things, getting straight to work.

 _(Tracer's pov, a few minutes latter)_

Whatever Courier was cooking, it smelled good. Whatever he cooks usually smells and tastes good. I have only known him for week, maybe even more. I can't imagine life without him. Resistant, persistent, brave, helpful and best of all he has a good heart. Even if he is physically lacking one.

I softly brush over the back of my hand, the area where he kissed it. He called me beautiful, he has been nothing but kind and willing to me. I can't get him out of my head, I don't want to get him out.

Maybe I should tell him how I feel, what I think about there being an 'us'. If tell him, will he say no? Will he lash out at me?

No, he would never do that to me. I know he wouldn't do that to me.

I looked up at the ceilings skylight, staring at the clouds above. (sigh) "I don't know what to do mum. Should tell him?"

I could feel her words resonate through my mind. 'You will know him maybe her, when you see them. Don't lose faith Lena, there will be the right one for you. You just need to be patient because someday, that patience will be rewarded.'

I feel a tear run down my face. I miss you mum, wherever you may be. I will be patient and wait for when the time is right.

"Breakfast is done."

I snapped my head to the kitchen door as Courier came out with a large tray with assorted foods. I made a forced smile, I hope he didn't hear me. He set the tray in front of us and took his seat across from me. He looked at me, as if he could see everything I feel. He raised a hand to my cheek and wiped the lone tear on my face. "Is something wrong?"

I shook my head. "No, just thinking about something a wise woman said to me."

He nods. "Must have been a good lady, advice comes from experience."

He handed me a steak knife and a fork. He then gave me a plate, cutting off a piece of this 'Bighorner steak'. Another wasteland food Courier cooked for me to try. There were a handful of fruit and even some hash browns. I took some hash and some fruit, filling the plate up of food. I looked up at Courier. "Thank you for cooking."

He takes a bite of some fruit. "If you always asked for me to cook you something, I would always cook it for you."

I smile and tried some of the steak. It was sweet to the tastebuds, slightly tangy too. It was also tender. For a first time eating mutant buffalo, it tasted great. I took bite after bite, eating away at the slice of meat.

Courier grind. "How's the food? It any good?"

I nodded enthusiastically. "This is probably the best meat I have ever had. You should cook for the others some time, they really don't know what they are missing out on."

He chuckled. "I might have something planned for when we get everybody together but for now…"

He took a bite of his steak. "It's only going to be you."

I blushed and averted my eyes away from him. "That hardly even seems fair to everybody else."

He dismissively wave his hand down. "No, its actually pretty reasonable because they don't spend time with me. They don't really talk with me. Only you, and that's all I need."

I could feel myself grow even more flustered. He smiles and continued to eat. For the rest of the meal, there was a silence between us. An awkward but good silence.

When we were done, we started heading to the dropship and they were already waiting for us. 'They' being Winston, Mercy, McCree and Reinhardt. Courier tipped his hat to them. "Howdy folks."

Winston noded. "Hello Courier, ready for today?"

He shrugs. "Another drop in the bucket for me."

Winston looked at me. "Are you ready for today."

I nod. "As ready as I will ever be."

He nods. "Good because it's probably going to be a while until you come back to the Watchpoint."

(sigh) "Yeah, but we will be back before you know it."

Winston smiled. "Don't worry, you have probably one of the best survivalists on the planet going with you."

I nod. "Yeah, you're right about that."

Winston walks inside the dropship. "Well, come on. It's going to be hot out there so you need to start as early as possible."

Everybody climbed aboard as the dropship door closed behind us.

 _(Courier's pov, a few hours latter)_

The ride was slow but even if it was slow, it was refreshing. Watching people talk to each other, old friends and what not. I almost envy them, people only talk to me when I start the conversation or when they need something. Lena was the only one who would actively start the conversation between us. Most of the time.

I looked and saw Mercy and Reinhardt chatting with each other. McCree playing darts with himself. Winston's up in the cockpit, flying the ship. I got out of my chair and walked over to McCree. He noticed me standing behind him. "You need something?"

I take some of my own darts out. "Mind if I play?"

He moved the cigar to the other side of his mouth. "By all means, if you're ready to lose."

I shook my head. "Yeah, good luck with that."

He threw a dart and it hit the circle right outside the center. "Top that."

He did not just dare me, did he? He is going to regret that. I threw a dart and it hit the center, perfect throw. I crossed my arms. "Now you top that."

He ran a hand over his eyes. "Oh this is going to be a long game."

I started spinning the dart between my fingers, what I normally do with rifle bullets. "You bet your ass it is."

Game after game. It has only been ending in ties. Maybe I did it purposely, maybe I didn't. Who's to say? One things for sure, it's starting to piss him off a bit. Making this ride all the more enjoyable.

"I swear on my gun, your doing this purposely."

I 'innocently' raise my arms defensively. "What do you mean? I'm just playing the game how it's meant to be played."

"Bullshit."

I shrug and throw my last dart. Hitting another bullseye and creating yet again, another tie. McCree takes his hat off and runs a hand through his hair. "This is just ridiculous."

I walk up to the dartboard and retrieve the darts. "Is it? Is it really?"

He gave me a glare. "Yes, it is."

I put the darts in my inventory. "Good, it wouldn't be fun for me if it wasn't."

He gave me a poker face. "I don't know if I respect you more or less now."

I grin. "Why not both?"

I felt someone poke my arm. I looked to my right. I say Lena who was wearing her chronal accelerator, flight jacket and goggles. She was missing something but I couldn't put my finger on it. "You ready to go back to the Mojave?"

I firmly nod, finally figuring out what she is missing. "Yeah, but you're not."

She gave me a befuddled look. "What do you mean? I have everything I need."

I gave her a smug grin. "Such as?"

"Goggles, jacket, Chronal accelerator, pistols, supplies for the mission, you…"

I pull up my inventory, taking out the one thing she's missing. "You're missing something."

I put a stetson hat on top of her head, adjusting it slightly for it to fit. "There you go, now you're ready to go out in the Mojave."

She pointed to the hat on top of her head. "Can I keep this?"

"I wouldn't have gave it to you if you couldn't."

McCree looks at me strangely. "You are a very weird guy."

I look back to him. "Weird usually isn't the word I would use but you could say that."

Lena decided to pipe in. "What's wrong with weird? I like it."

He raised his hands up defensively. "He is a different level of weird."

I nonchalantly shrug and walk to the dropship window. Staring down at the barren desert composed of hills, tumble weed and other things. Familiar yet different. I pull up my pip-boy and tune it to the specific frequency until I hear interference. Good thing it also shows the signal strength or this was going to be much harder.

The ship starts to land and the door opens. Lena rushes to my side. I look to her. "You ready?"

She spins one of her pistols around her finger, enthusiasm as large as ever. "Always love."

We step out of the ship as the door closed behind us. The ship taking off in the process. "Good because the days are going to be hot and the nights are going to be cold."

We wandered around the desert for hours, guess this Genji guy likes to be secluded and away from the population. I could see that, not everyone is a people person. Lena, dosnt like this mission one bit. She is happy that I'm here but the heat was god awful. Maybe not Mojave wasteland heat but it was fairly bad.

If she didn't have that stemson I gave her, she would be burning under the Mojave sun. Me, I'm used to it. "You lovin this heat or what?"

She was sweating a good bit. "This place is dreadful, I have no idea how you survived this heat back in the wasteland but right now I envy you."

I start to climb up a hill, the signal ever growing stronger. "You shouldn't envy me, in fact I should envy you."

We reached the top to see more sand, tumbleweed and other things. "Why should you envy me?"

I continue to walk forward, leaving imprints of the soles of my boots in the sand and dirt. "You had things I never got. Family, good meals, everything that would a home your home."

She rushes up next to me. "You never had schooling? You seemed so smart, you know how to write, cook and other things"

I kick a rock in front of us. "All of those things were self taught. If you wanted to survive, you need to adapt."

I saw a small cactus she was about to walk right into. I grabbed her arm and pulled her over to me, narrowly missing the cactus. "You need to watch your step around here, you never know when your going to run into something."

"Sorry."

I put my hand up. "Don't apologize, I'm just forewarning you."

She was soon back to her position right next to me. "So what was the Mojave wasteland like? Was it similar to this?"

I nod. "In some ways. It is hot, it's dry, it's mostly barren. There just isn't any mutated animals or radiation around. The buildings aren't destroyed and society goes on as it should."

She looked at me. "Do you miss the Mojave wasteland?"

I keep my eyes forward, thinking to myself. "Sometimes, only when I have time to think to myself. To realize the differences, to compare my world to yours."

She solemnly stared at me. "Would you go back if you could?"

"I don't even know the answer to that myself."

I stop to look at the signal strength on my pip-boy, 87% signal strength. "We are getting close."

She looked over my shoulder, looking at the radio wave lengths. "How close?"

I look out in the distance. "I'd say around a few more miles."

"You say it like it's not that much of a big deal."

I keep walking. "It honestly isn't, once you get in my line of work. You walk longer than this, sometimes even day and night."

The sun was starting to set, slowly transitioning the day into night. She noticed this. "We need to set up camp soon."

I open my inventory and pull out the tent. "Your right. You set up the tent, I will get wood for the fire."

We both separated to complete our separate tasks.

 _(Few minutes latter)_

The tent was set up and secure, the firewood set up inside of a circle of stones. The heat was starting to die down and becoming cool to the skin. Now is a good time to start the fire. Lena sits right next to me, rubbing her arms up and down even though she was wearing a leather jacket. "You cold?"

She nodded. I pulled out a my engraved lighter and lit the bundles of sticks. Creating a heat source for the night. I look to her as she raised her hands the the warmth. "Better?"

She nodded. "Very, thank you."

I chuckled. "You're also not the only one who is cold."

We both stared into the fire, listening to the crackling and flickering.

"Lena?"

"Yeah?"

"You talked about what I miss back in the Mojave wasteland, what do you miss?"

She didn't answer right away. Her chronal accelerator glowed but not as bright as the fire. "I miss my family, I miss my dog, I miss the life I had before I was Tracer."

She brings her knees up to her chest. "Sometimes, I like to ask myself 'is this life even worth living?' Being a hero to people, giving others hope and to not give up while losing some of my own in the process."

"Do you hate being Tracer?"

She looked at me with a gentle but stern look. "No, not for a second. I miss what I lost but at the same time, I got new things. I like giving hope to people, I like helping those who need it most. I like the powers I got."

I nod, making the best of a bad situation was always a good thing. "So, what was your family like? Are they good people?"

That question made her stop breathing until she registered what I asked. "Y-yeah, th-they were g-good people. Probably the nicest you would ever find back in Britain."

"I noticed you said were."

She looked depressed, fuck I should not have said that. Courier, you deserve the ass of the year award. She buried her head in her legs, I could hear sniffing and some sobs. I walked over to her and sat behind her, making her sit between my legs. I wrap my arms around her and tried to sooth her in any way I can.

Lena slowly pulled her head out from her her knees. I put my hands on top of hers. "I'm sorry I brought this up, I always bring up the worst topics for you. I so sorry."

She looked back at the fire, eyes now red and puffy from the painful memories. "I was an only child, lived in a nice house. Friendly neighbors along the whole street, every morning when I passed by their house they would always say 'hello' or 'good morning' to me."

She pulls me closer to her. "My dad's name was David Oxton. He worked for the SAS, a special task group for the UK. He wasn't really around much when I was a kid but when he was, we did everything together. From playing in the house to teaching me how to ride a bike. He wanted to make sure I knew he loved me and he did."

More tears started to stream down her face. "My mum's name was Amelia oxton. She was a nice lady, kind and caring to those around her. She always gave me advice or helped me when she could when I was younger."

She looks down. "M-my dad was sent on a hostage rescue mission with his squad. Composed of three other guys, Charlie, ash and jack. When he reached the hostages and started to extract them, an IED went off. It crippled his right leg and sent multiple fragments or shards inside him. It tore up most of his muscles in his leg and lower abdomen. They called an evac chopper to pull him out of the mission with his squad but he… he died before they got him medical attention."

I gently start to rock her side to side, trying to help calm her. (sob) "I found out when his squad members came home and told my mum. Sh-she was heart broken, I was destroyed. The funeral happened a week later. My mum, she tried to stay happy for me. Doing whatever she could to support us. After I graduated high school, my mum collapsed on her kitchen floor. One of my neighbors saw it from their windows and called an ambulance until and helped her in any way he could. When the ambulance arrived they stabilized her and took her to the hospital. (sob) Wh-when they performed their t-tests to f-find out what was wrong, they found out that she had heart cancer."

She was shaking uncontrollably. "How? How could a person so nice, a person who did everything she could to support her little girl get cancer in the worst places?! She did not deserve to die! She deserved to live!"

I turned her around and let her cry into my chest. (sob) "I miss her so much. Why did it have to be her?"

I let her cry until she was out of tears, until the sobbing stopped. I leaned to her ear. "Im sorry, Im so sorry. I would not have asked if it would have caused this much pain."

She looked up at me. "It's ok. I needed to get that out anyway, it's not good to bottle my emotions up."

"Your parents sounded like nice people and at least you can always keep them in your memory. Unlike some people."

She slowly raised her hand to touch my cheek. "I'm sorry you can't remember them."

I nod slowly. "We both have a scarred past, all I do is cause you pain in the worst ways."

She shook her head. "No, I want to tel- No, NEED to tell you these things. I don't know why I need to but I do. You make me feel like I can open myself up to you, tell you things I would never tell anyone."

She locks her hazel eyes with my amber ones. "I feel like I've known you for years when I have only known you for around a week."

I nod. "I feel the same."

The 'uncomfortable' feeling arose again. But I'm not going to resist it, I'm going to embrace it." I care about you, in ways I can not even fathom. I'm not sure if it's love, if its deprivation from lack of interaction, or if it's something else. Whatever it may be, I want to explore this feeling with you. Only you."

I could see one last tear run down her face. Not a tear of sadness, but one of joy. "I feel the same way. You make my heart beat like I've just ran a marathon, you always find a way to make me blush."

We started to lean forward, the distance between us lessens as the heat rises. "Want to finish what we started yesterday?"

"Like you even need to ask."

Her lips met mine, neither one of us fighting out of lust but mutual affection for one another. I lifted one of my hands and caressed her cheek as her's moved behind my head and pulled me closer. I could not tell how long we were like this but I didn't want this to end. Im sure she didn't either but our opinion didn't matter to our bodies demands of oxygen.

We separated, both of us panting. Her face was flushed crimson red under the light of the campfire. "I have been waiting for that since yesterday."

I smiled and kissed her again, catching her a bit off guard but not unwelcome. She wrapped her arms around my neck. I think I even heard her moan a little, good because I don't want to be the only one enjoying this.

When we separated again, she looked be dead in the eyes with a goofy smile. "You sly bastard."

I kissed her cheek. "Only for you."

She blushed harder than I think I have ever seen her. "Hmmm."

I nodded softly. I looked around and saw the darkness around us. "We might want to catch some sut eye."

"That might be a good idea."

We walked to the tent and slept the rest on the night away. Not as friends, or followers, or partners… but something more.

 **Well… What do you guys and gals think? I am not that very good at writing romance but I think I did alright for an introduction for their relationship. This has been a long chapter but it is done. I would like to thank Facebreaker17, dragonman1424 and last but not least "A fan" for their comments and ideas. They deserve credit as do everyone of you for your support and new possibilities for me to shape the story. You guys pat yourselves on the back because you deserve it.**

 **Also, how would you feel if Courier was the lone wanderer for the sake of the story just like how "A fan" suggested? Say something in the comments if you people feel like I should do that.**

 **By the way, Courier does have the implants. They were just mainly overshadowed by the fact he has no heart, spine and cybernetic parts in his brain. They will be mentioned when Courier talks with Mercy in a latter chapter.**

 **Remember to comment and review so I can do a better job at writing this. -Paladin Leroy**


	22. Dust, sand and a mountain

_(Courier's pov)_

I open my eyes, greeted by the gentle sight of Lena. Snoozing away in my arms. It's a shame I have to wake her soon, we need to find Genji and 'convince' him to come back to Overwatch.

I look around the tent. From what I can already tell, it's daytime outside. I pull up my pip-boy to check the time. It's 7:00 AM, way past the time we should have gotten up. (sigh) "Time to get going."

I look back to Lena, a smile grazed across her face while she slept. I start to shake her gently, trying to rouse her from her slumber. She cracked her eyes open. "What time is it?"

I kiss her forehead gently. "Longer than I would have liked Lena. Bet the sun is scorching outside."

She groans, stretching her limbs out. "Why couldn't he have been somewhere with a more moderate temperature?"

I chuckle, grabbing my boots, duster and hat. "Because, that would have been too easy."

She rolls her eyes. "Yeah I guess, but it's bloody hot here."

I slip my boots on. "You got that right, but the world doesn't care if it's too hot or too cold."

She slips on her jacket and chronal accelerator. "What's for breakfast?"

I take out two rations. "Rations for today, I don't exactly have a stove to cook on."

She shrugs and takes one. She looks at the pack and reads the label. "I got bacon and ham. What did you get?"

I read the label. "I got sausage and eggs."

I start to 'cook' my food as she does the same. After a few minutes, our food was hot and steaming. Ready to be eaten.

We start to eat, trying to finish so we can pack up our camping equipment. As we ate, Lena had a look of disgust on her face. I could only laugh. "What, bad food or horrible taste?"

She took another bit, cringing at the taste. "Both."

I take another bit, not even grimacing at the unpleasant taste. I have had worse food than this. "Tell you what. When we get back, I will cook again and it can be whatever you like. I know that these rations taste bad but food is food."

She nods enthusiastically. "Good, cause I miss your cooking. However strange it may be."

I pull up my pip-boy and take out a mutfruit. I hand it to her as she takes it graciously. "There, I hope that will make breakfast taste better?"

She eats the mutated fruit, savoring the sweet and tangy flavor. "I love these things, what are they called again?"

"Mutfruit."

"I love mutfruit, best mutated food yet."

 _A few minutes latter_

We start heading towards the direction we were heading last time, north. The signal strength was 88%. If my observation was correct, we are currently around 15-17 miles away. Give or take a few hundred feet. We have made good progress since we started.

"Courier?"

I look back at her. "Yeah?"

She moved some stray hair out of her face, just showing more of her adorably flustered face. "With what happened last night… what exactly are we now?"

I look back to the sand and dirt ahead of us. Silently thinking to myself. I have never been in a relationship with anyone. Besides the sort of, kind of friends with benefits thing with Red Lucy. I have been this close with anyone. No one is really interested in a one man army that carries a couple hundred pounds of firearms and weapons that could kill someone a few hundred different ways. Im also covered in scars that would make most people sick while also wearing an outfit that most might consider rags. I guess I can understand the distaste because I don't even like myself.

I felt a tap on my shoulder. I look at Lena as she looks at me with a hopeful while still fearful look in her eyes. "Uh.. Love?"

I look down at the dirt. Maybe, just maybe this could work? Maybe I could finally achieve the first step at normalcy. Could it even work though? I want to try, I need to try for the both of us. I look back at her, looking at the ground with a disheartened gaze.

"Lena?"

She immediately peeks her head up to look at me. I start to feel a small amount of nervousness form in the pit of my stomach. "I uhhhh… I would like to think there is an 'us' and I am willing to try if you are…"

She sweetly smiled as she ran up and kissed my cheek. "That's all I needed to know."

I put a hand up the where she kissed me. God was it easier last night, we were drunk on emotion. Still doesn't change the way I feel about her though.

"Love?"

"Yes?"

"Have you ever been in a relationship with anyone before?"

"Not unless you count a freinds with benifits as a relationship then no."

She look a little frustrated but it quickly morphed into a grin. "Why though? I'm surprised that nobody has snatched you up back where your from. They don't know what they are missing out on because you're one of the best people I have ever met and I have met tons of people."

I shrug. "I'm not much really. Nobody likes wasteland assholes like me, I'm either too intimidating or too me."

She shook her head. "You don't deserve that. You spent almost everyday fixing their problems and they just blatantly ignore you like your nothing."

She grabs my right hand in a soft while also being strong grip. "I would never ignore you. I care about you too much and besides…"

She gives me a cheeky grin. "It gives you another reason to stay."

I smile as I entwine my hand in hers. "Your all the reason I need to stay."

She kisses my cheek again. "Well aren't you sweet."

"Only for you Lena."

Her smile grows bigger, this morning is going great.

 _A few hours latter_

We reach a field made of dust, sand, dying plants and cactus. Feels like home to me. I look up and see that the sun is starting to set, signaling another night out in the Mojave is approaching. Lena was still holding my hand as I guide her through the dry sands. She looked a little drowsy, walking many miles would do that to a person. Except me, this is more like exercise or a daily routine than anything. "I think we can stop for tonight."

"That would be best. I think I need to do more exercises ifwant to keep up with you _._ "

I take out the equipment stored in my pip-boy and start to build the ten as Lena starts to gather firewood. It only took a couple of minutes until the tent was ready and the fire was waiting to be lit. i take out my lighter and light the fire, spreading from stick to branch in a matter of minutes.

Lena was huddled near the now lit fire, keeping warm from the sudden heat from the sun to the now harsh cold from the moon. I sit right next to her and let her lean against me, sharing our body heat. "Why is it so bloody hot in the day and so cold at night?"

I look at the fire. "Because the desert is not for the feint of heart, it tests you. It tries to see if it will make or break you."

She rests her head on my bicep. "Good thing you're probably got the strongest heart out of all of us."

"Eh, I don't know about that."

She scoffs. Well I do, you have a great heart. I know you do because you help that one kid get back to his mum back in Stuttgart."

I rest my head on top of hers. "It was the right thing to do, it only seemed natural that I do it."

She moves a hand and rests it on my chest, right above my beating prosthetic heart. "Thats what Im talking about, you do the right thing and that's the only reason you do it."

I put my hand on top of hers. "I do good things not only because it's the right thing to do but because people need someone to look up to. A role model for the people of tomorrow, somebody who would stand up to fight against something larger than themselves. Not for themselves but for others around them. No matter how much I hate it, I have to be a symbol or a representation for people who are too afraid to fight against corruption or evil."

"Do you regret being the role model for the people of the Mojave wasteland?"

I look down at the dirt in front of the fire. "Sometimes, but the only way for people to stand up for themselves is to show them fear is only in their heads. It can be conquered and overwhelmed. But then again, being fearless doesn't make you a hero…"

She looks at me as I look at her, she gives me a reassuring smile. "But doing the right thing does."

I start to lean down as she leans up. Our lips meet for another heart felt kiss. I hope she can feel my heart under my shirt because it's beating for her right now.

We separate, her face crimson while mine was calm yet happy. A goofy grin adorns her face. She grabs my head and kisses me, this with her taking control. As we were kissing, I could feel something move past my lips and reach my teeth. It was her tongue, it was begging for entrance. Who was I to deny a girl what she wants. I open my mouth a little as our tongues fight over dominance.

I could hear her moan a little as we 'fight' and I may or may not have given off a few groans myself. I pull her closer to me as she pulls my head deeper into the kiss.

It was a hard fought battle but both sides surcame to the need of oxygen. Both of us were panting after our 'sensual battle'. She still had a goofy grin on her face, her blush had only intensified. Neither one of us speaking as an awkward silence fell between us. Time for me to break it. "That was…"

She decided to finish my sentence. "Great... better than I expected it to go."

I nod. "Yeah, never kissed anyone like that, it felt good."

She lays her head back onto my bicep again. The both us listening to the crackling of the fire until it was time for us to retire to the tent.

 _A few hours latter_

I open my eyes and look around the tent to which there was no sunlight shining through. That means it was before dawn. Good, this means it's still cool outside.

I start to crawl out of my sleeping bag but I forgot that Lena had her arms and head draped over my chest, still snoozing time the time away.

I shake Lena gently as I always do. She stirs and opens her eyes, tiredness as evident as ever. "Time to get up?"

I leaned down and kiss her forehead, she smiles. "Yeah, sun's not up and we have around an hour before that happens."

She lets go of me and crawls out of her sleeping bag. "We should start packing up before that bloody sun comes up."

I grab my boots, duster and hat. "Well let's get started."

Once again the survival equipment is back in my inventory while we walk the sands of the Mojave. We are so close to Genji, walking miles after miles has started to wear on Lena. Not that I doubt she can prevail. If she collapsed in the desert, I would carry her for however long I would need to. I **will never** leave her behind for anything, come hell or high water.

Lena's hand was holding mine as we make our way across the rough and rugged desert. I could see the light start to shine over the hills and mountains. The sun will be here soon and with the sun comes the heat.

I look to my right and look at Lena. "Hey Lena?"

She looks at me. "Yes?"

I point to the mountains off in the distance, way off in the distance. "You see those mountains?"

She squints her eyes a little, but they open wide as she can see what I see. "Yeah, I see them. How can you see them though, they are probably miles away."

I tap right next to my eye. "I've got a few implants that increase my abilities. One of them is called the optic enhancers, imagine eye contacts that never come off on steroids and there you go."

She looks astonished. "That sounds ruddy cool, you should let Winston and Mercy study some of them. It would help lots of people you know."

I shrug. "Perhaps, after this is over I might let them take a look at them."

She hit my shoulder playfully. "Ya know Mercy would love to take a peak with your prosthetic organs, implants and all."

The sun starts to peak so I adjust my hat to block it. "I bet she would, my prosthetic heart and spine could help a lot of people. Those in need of a heart transplant or people crippled from the waist down. It would do a lot of good."

She runs ahead of me, walking backwards. "What other things can you do?"

I think for a moment. "The other implants increase my physical and mental abilities such as increasing my strength, perception, endurance, charisma, intelligence, agility, luck, resistance to damage and being able to heal myself from wounds given enough time to do so."

I could faintly hear some rattling. That means… oh shit. "Lena you nee-"

"So that means you could heal from almost anything given enough time?"

I start to run up to her but the rattling has become far louder than I would have liked. Lena stops and looks around, confused. "Love, do you hear that?"

As soon as I reach out to pull her away, it struck.

The snake around four feet long bit Lena in the leg. I rush over and grab the head of the snake and force it off. Lena fell to the ground with her leg writhing in pain. The snake in my hands was freaking out, trying to get out of my grip but too bad for it. I squeezed hard enough to break the bones and crush anything connected to its head. I toss the dead reptile aside and rush to Lena's side. I pull out and anti-venom and a snakebite tourniquet.

She was breathing heavily. I applied the tourniquet and cut off the circulation so the venom wouldn't get far. I pull the cork out of the bottle of anti-venom. Lena looks at me, terrified. Lena, calm down. This is going to hurt a little but you are going to be good as new, you won't lose a leg."

She nervously and albeit painfully chuckles. "Good, how would be able to keep up with you if I didn't have both my legs?"

I pull out a clean needle and draw the anti-venom into it. "Lena, what is the capital of the USA?"

"Washington D- FUCK!"

The needle was deep into the wound of the snake bite and was currently killing off the venom inside of her blood stream. She looked at me a little pissed off. "Why did you do that? It hurt."

I pull the needle out and put it away in my inventory for cleaning latter. "Sorry but if I told you, you would have tensed up and it would have hurt a lot worse than it would have."

I take out a stimpack and remove the snakebite tourniquet. "I'm sorry I did that but at least your ok."

I inject the stimpack into her leg to heal the damaged muscle and close the puncture wounds on her leg. She cringes for a moment before relaxing.

"Courier…"

"Yes?"

"The Mojave sucks."

"Your preaching to the quire."

 _A few hours latter_

It has been two, maybe even three hours since Lena's personal encounter to a current resident to the Mojave desert. Glad we did not come across any scorpions or bugs of any sort. The mountain was in plain view and the interference on my pip-boy was almost deafening. The signal strength was currently 99%. Meaning this 'Genji' is sitting up at the top. Bet there is a good view at the top.

Ever since her encounter with the rattlesnake, she has stayed close to me. Not that I would ever object, I like having her close.

We stood at the base of the mountain and looked up. Boy do we got our work cut out for us. She leans on me, tired from the constant walking. "I thought the walking was bad, this is just bullshit."

"Well at least you can blink, I have to climb."

She pushed past me and started to blink her way up. "Race ya to the top slowpoke!"

I ran after her and started to make my up way right behind her. "Hey, that's not fair!"

She blinked to a ledge a few feet away from me. "All's fair in love and war."

I pull myself up and reach for another ledge. "You know that's a load of brahmin crap."

She giggled. "Sure it is…"

She blinked up again, staying a few feet ahead of me. Hour after hour of constant climbing, blinking and teasing ended up at us sitting close the the top. The mountain was weird to say the least. There was no point and looked kind of like a bowl, can't say for sure though. Lena was resting on a rock from the constant blinking, looks like it was finally taking its toll on her after the fun and teasing.

I look at my pip-boy, the interference on my pip-boy radio was freaking out. That means I'm practically sitting on top of the signal source. I open my inventory and hand her a bottle of purified water. "Figure you might need this."

She takes it and chugs it down, wiping away any water that escaped her lips. "Thanks love."

I nod before looking up. "I'm going to see what's over the edge while you rest up."

I walked past her, kissing her cheek on my way by. I start to climb my way up again. Ledge after ledge, ridge after ridge. I make my up up the mountain. I reach up and touch the final edge before grabbing it and pulling myself up. My head stuck out over the edge and I could see a very large tree, cottonwood if I'm not mistaken. I think I read about it in a pre-war book somewhere.

I pull myself over and walk to the tree. It was unusually large, looks like it's about three times the size of a normal one. At least it creates some good shade.

I stop, right before the tree there is a metal… man? He is not looking at me, or at least the bright green visor is not facing me. He has a sword resting on his lap, looked like it cut right through metal like a knife through butter, the blade glowed just like his visor and other areas on him.

I walk towards him until I'm standing right before him. He might actually be an omnic now that I think of it.

There was a silence between the two of us… key word being 'was'.

"Who are you?"

"Names Courier."

"What are you doing here 'Courier'?"

I cross my arms. "Im looking for someone."

He still doesn't look at me as his body remains deadly still. "And who are you looking for?"

"A Genji Shimada, name sound familiar to you?"

He simply nods. I can see his hand holding something, something that looks very sharp. I don't think this conversation is going to end well.

"That depends, why do you want to know?"

Overwatch is looking for him. "They need his help to save the world from destroying itself, there is going to be a second omnic war if we don't do something about it."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"I dont know, Im just looking for him."

He finally looks at me. "I'm going to warn you only once, leave."

My hand slowly inches itself to my holstered weapon. "Why?"

He stands up, holding his sword in one hand as he holds three shurikens in the other. "You lie, you're working for Talon. No wonder why you're here, they have been doing this to Overwatch agents all over the world."

He flicks his arm, sending the three shurikens at me as I roll to the side. Taking minor cuts to the fore arm. He holds his sword in a fighting stance. "I will not be so easily swayed by your words, even less be killed by the likes of you."

I draw my revolver and point it at him. "Look buddy, I don't want any trouble. I just want to find Genji."

He rushes at me. "Of course you do."

I unload my six shots into him as he starts to deflect them back at me, one of them getting lodged in my shoulder. I put the revolver away as I pull out my machete gladius. Narrowly blocking an attack from his far larger sword. He moves with expert precision as I hastily block blow after blow of his bade.

Im put on the defensive as he keeps swinging and slashing at me, but I don't think he is trying to inflict real damage to me. I think he is going to do something, trying to distract me with his attacks. We enter in a blade lock, muscle against machine. I started to push him back until he was pushed against the tree.

He unlocks the blade lock before swings. I dodge and stab his forearm and pin him against the tree, making him drop his sword. I try to swing a right hook but he catches it and brings up his knee to my shoulder and his other leg around my other shoulder, locking me in place.

He immediately pulled and I could hear a sickening pop before I felt excruciating pain in my shoulder. He lets go and kicks me away, giving him time to pull out the machete pinning him. He picks up his sword.

I get up to my feet and he gets back into a fighting stance. "Do you really think you can defeat me?"

I charge at him as he sheathes his sword. I swing a quick jab at his abdomen but he catches this punch again. I knee him and unlock my fist from his grip. He sends a flurry of kicks, jabs and punches at me. Directing his attacks to my injured shoulder and chest.

One punch hit my ribs and I heard a crack and more pain soon followed. I can't even try to block, my breathing was slow labored and ragged. The rest of me feels numb if there was no pain.

He spins us around and kicks me with both of his feet launching me to the tree. I look up from my spot on the ground, seeing him stand a few feet away. "You are but a grunt. An ant meant to be squashed underneath a boot."

I start to climb back up, slowly making it to my feet. He looks at me a little stunned if I had to say. "You are determined, I will give you that but now…"

He pulls out his sword. "Die now with honor."

" _Ryūjin no ken o kurae!"_

I am impaled through the chest and pinned to the tree, the blade went far enough until it was down to the hilt.

"COURIER!"

The metal man and I look over to see lena now coming down to the tree. Could have used her help earlier. This sucks, I never told her that I loved her. I faintly look at the sword in my chest with blood leaking and dripping down the handle. I can see my vision blacken as I look back at Lena trying to get to me but the mental man was stopping her. I pull up my pip-boy and pull out a med-x and a stimpack. Mentally preparing myself for the gruesome work ahead.

 _( Tracer's pov, few minutes earlier)_

Constantly blinking is fairly taxing to the body. Winston said that if I blink too much, it might set my breathing and heartbeat out of whack. Boy was he right but the pain subsided and removed myself from my spot on my resting rock.

For the past few minutes, I could hear some kind of ruckus going on. Wonder if something is happening up there? I'm sure Courier has it under control. Probably talking with Genji right no-

" _Ryūjin no ken o kurae!"_

That phrase, it sounds like Genji's special attack….Oh bollocks! I Start blinking my way up until I can see clearly what was going on. Courier is pinned to a large tree by Genji's sword, bleeding heavily and covered with bruises. Please tell me this isn't happening, please for the love of god don't tell me this is happening.

"COURIER!"

I rush down and try to get to him but Genji stopped me. He is stopping me from helping him. Genji looks at me. "Lena, why are your here? If its about the Talon agent, then dont worry. He has been dealt with."

I feel tears threaten to escape. He can't be dead, he just can't. I try to run past me but he steps in front of me. "Is there… something I'm missing?"

I start hitting him on the chest. "Yeah, you just killed one of our own! You fucking bastard, I'll KILL YOU!"

He grabs my wrists, stopping me from hitting him. "Wait, he was telling the truth? He was with Overwatch?"

I try to struggle out of his hold as I could feel the pain welling deep inside my chest. "Yes, he was with us you twat! I loved him and I never got to tell him fully because of you!"

I finally pull myself out of his grip. I'm about to hit him again but someone beat me to it. I watched as Genji was knocked to the ground with a big dent on the side of his head. Courier was standing on top of him with a weird looking sledgehammer.

He was breathing heavily with a bloodied shirt. "Tin can peice of shit."

He goes to swing again but I step in front of him. "Lena, you mind moving? I need to smash this fucker's skull open."

I shake my head. "Sorry love, but he is the guy we're looking for."

He gave me a poker face. "Your joking right?"

I shake my head again. (sigh) "Fine, I guess I won't smash his skull open then."

I run and hug him, I not caring if I get dirty with blood. "I thought I lost you. You were impaled, pinned to the tree. He said he killed you…"

He wraps his arm around me, resting his head on top of mine. "Its okay, its okay Lena. I don't plan on leaving anytime soon."

"I heard what you said. You love me, this soon?"

I could feel a bit of heat rush to my face. I-I do Courier. It may be too soon to say it but I do love you."

He hums. "Good, I love you too. Even if it is too soon, I want you to know."

I release my hug, some blood sticking to my jacket. But I didn't care. I look down at the disoriented Genji. I kneel in front of him. "Hey, you still alive in there?"

He rests a hand on top of the new dent in his 'helmet', feeling how big and deep it was. "Ugh, my head."

He looks up and immediately pulls out his tanto blade as Courier readies his 'sledgehammer' again. I step in between the two of them. "Stop, we are not going to be killing each other alright? We are going to talk like civilized folk."

They slowly lowered their weapons, Courier putting the 'sledgehammer' back into his inventory and Genji putting his tanto back in its sheath. "Good, now to the matter at hand."

I explained the situation to Genji. He listened while fixing some wires in his arm. Courier was sitting next to me, still a little pissed about getting attacked and nearly killed but I'm just glad he is fine. Once i finished, Genji just sits there. Trying to process everything I told him.

"So Overwatch is officially being recalled, Talon is still hunting us, any and all actions performed by any Overwatch personnel is illegal all over the world, Courier is a man from an alternate world where the world ended in nuclear fire and we have Reinhardt, you, Winston, Courier and Mercy with us to help our cause."

I nod. "Yes, so now that you've hear everything. Are you willing to save the world again?"

He sticks up one finger. "On one condition."

"What is it?"

He walks over and picks up the sword that has been laying by the tree for a few minutes. Still covered in blood. He inspects it for any physical damage. "If my master joins us in the battle for peace, his skills and wisdom will be vital if we are to succeed."

I look at his quizzically. "Who is your master?"

"Zenyatta, a member of Shamballa monks as well as my master. He made me whole again."

My jaw dropped. "Your master was a member of the order of monks that Mondatta came from? If he's from there then of course he can join. The world could always use more heros."

He nod as he starts to wipe the blood off his sword. "Yes, he now travels the world but I have recently heard around that he was going to go back to the Shambali monastery in Nepal."

He sheathes his sword. "Besides, Courier could use some help."

Courier gets up from his spot on the ground. "Excuse you? What do you mean that I could use some help?"

He looks at him through the bright green visor. "It's the way you fight, with deprivation and bottled emotion. With the same anger and sadness that I once held. You hide something, something you want to bury and forget but your mind doesn't want you to."

Courier looks at him with a blank face. "If did carry something, that's my problem. Not yours or your masters."

He nods. "Of course it is."

I look at Courier worriedly. He was trying to hide something, something he doesn't want to remember. I could help him, but only if he wants me to. Getting Zenyatta is becoming a better idea by the second. Not only because he was a member of an order of monks that Mondatta was apart of, but because he could potentially help Courier with whatever wounds he was trying to hide inside.

I clasp my hands together. "Well, we could call Winston to pick us up now that we found you."

Genji moves back and sits underneath the tree. "That would be best."

I take out my earpiece and put it in, pressing a button calling for Winston. It took a minute but he responded.

" **Lena? You called so I assume you found Genji?"**

"Yeah, we did. Look we need pick up so do you think you could come by with the dropship soon?"

I could hear his breath seise. Something was wrong. "Winston, whats wrong?"

" **Oh, oh nothing Lena… just some small, minor, technical problems with the umm dropship. Yes uhh, very, very small."**

I scowled a little. "Winston…"

" **We critically damaged the engines and hover system."**

I feel the anger boiling right now. "Winston… if see so much as an armor plate out of place. Your furred ass is GRASS! I spent hours in that ship and you tell me you broke her!"

I could practically feel Winston cowering from my voice. **"I'm sorry okay! During the mission, we were attacked by some old Bastion units equipped with anti-air guns. A few of the shots it one of the engines and critically damaged it. Were lucky the thing could hover let alone fly. Im repairing what I can as we speak, I'm going to get the dropship operational by early morning tomorrow."**

I rubbed a hand over my eyes. "Sorry big guy, I just put a lot of time into that ship and it would be a shame to see her go up in flames now. I'm stressed out a little because this mission has been tiring to both the body and mind."

" **It's fine. It was my fault the ship got damaged anyways but don't worry. You three will be getting out of that desert soon enough. Just one more night."**

"Just one more night… god what I wouldn't do for a hot bath or shower right now."

I could hear him chuckle a little. " **See you there soon enough, Winston out."**

I turn off my earpiece and turn to the two guys having a stare down with each other. I honestly can't tell who is winning. "Alright, I've got good news and bad news."

Courier looked at me. "What's the good news?"

I pointed behind the way we came. "We are finally getting out of this god forsaken desert."

Courier looks at me skeptically. "And the bad news?"

I feel the anger rising but i suppress it. (sigh) "The dropship was damaged so it won't be here today so we are going to have to bunker down for the night until it's fixed."

Courier shrugs. "Alright, its getting close to night anyways so we should probably start setting up camp again."

I nod. "Yeah, got the tent?"

He pulls up his pip-boy. "Yep, its there."

 _(Courier's pov)_

I pull out the tent and set it up. Wonder why Genji is here of all places to be. I mean there are forests, plains, swamps, and other things but a freaking desert? Maybe because of the quietness this place emits. The only thing you could hear is the rustling of the wind and the sounds of animals. I don't hear animals that much any more, more than likely they recognize that I am the top predator and that I am **not** to be fucked with. Glad Lena stayed close to me, the bugs, snakes and other things would kill her. This place might not be the Mojave Wasteland by any means but that doesn't meant it is the most friendly of places to be.

Lena, Lena, Lena… she has been on my mind more and more each and every day. It makes think what I like about her. Her personality, her enthusiasm, her accent is just adorable. It also doesn't hurt that she has a great physique too. Slim and curvy yet strong and fast.

I look over and see her talking with Genji, just socializing and catching up on lost time. I don't mind, she can talk to who ever she wants. Wonder who this Mondatta guy is? He is obviously related with Zenyatta and is apart of a some kind of society of monks.

I look back at the tent. I don't trust Genji right now, trust is earned. But she trusts, that's all the reason I need to try and get along with him. Not for my sake but for hers. If she asked me to do something I wouldn't hesitate to do it.

I wonder what exactly does she see in me? I'm just a wasteland asshole who does his best to make the world a better place when it is filled death and corruption in every step. Maybe I'm cursed to this life, to be the savior I never wanted to be. If what Lena said is true? Then maybe there is a way out? Maybe she can give me the life I never had and always wanted?

I have nothing really left to lose except her and Overwatch. I would defend both with everything I have and would sacrifice everything for them. My heart, soul and very life included. They deserved as much… she deserved as much.

I look back at her. "The tents done."

She nods and walks over to me. "Alright, I will get some stuff for the fire."

I nod and start gathering some old dried sticks and branches from the tree. She does the same and soon the firewood is ready to be lit. I look over the edge of the mountain bowl, seeing the sun set and the night rise. I heard some noise and see Lena unlatch her chronal accelerator and take off her blood covered jacket.

Her nose wrinkles at the smell of it. She starts to shiver a little as I just smile. I do the same thing I always do, taking off my duster and hand it to her. No blood was on it, it just rolls off the faded leather.

She puts it on, smiling as she does so. Guess she has become attached to my duster. She looks at me in curiosity. "You know you don't have to give your duster every time I get cold you know. Don't you get cold as well?"

I take out my lighter and light the fire. "It's the right and I just want to show that I care."

She takes a seat by the fire as I soon take mine next to her. She smiles and leans on me. "You've already done more than enough to prove that."

I look behind us to see Genji in his previous spot underneath the tree. He doesn't appear to be cold but it seems right to ask. "Aren't you cold, there is a fire over here if you would like to warm yourself up."

I look back at the fire. "Alright then, suit yourself."

The rest of the night was filled with the same crackling and snapping of the fire just like the nights before. Winston should be here some point tomorrow. It makes me a little sad or should I say homesick. These past few days have felt very similar to my routine back in the Mojave. But this time I wasn't under attack from cazadors, raiders or any mutated creature. Just spent in the company of a loved one.

 **There we go. I finished another chapter for you guys and gals. I hope you like the kissing scene earlier, I'm not very good at this sort of thing but hopefully I get better in latter chapters. Just keep in mind that I'm experimenting a little every chapter and I do welcome suggestions for the story. Also like a reviewer said in one of his/hers previous comments. Zenyatta and Genji will help Courier with his trauma from his past life before he was the man he is now but that will come in a future chapter.**

 **Also, Hana Song is going to be in the next chapter! Isn't that exciting folks. What if we were to make her a little flirty with Courier? Would that be an alright idea because if so, say it in the comments so I can see if it is a good idea. Its up to you guys to decide.**

 **Remember to comment and review so I can do a better job at writing. -Paladin Leroy**


	23. Another tale and a damaged ship

_Courier's dream)_

I walk down the torn and faded road. I don't know why I'm walking this way or where it leads. From what is in front of me, the road doesn't end. It never ends. Is this what I was always meant to be? A drifter, a wanderer... a courier? Do I have no other purpose other than what the Mojave gave me?

I look down, watching my worn boots take step after step.

"No… you have a purpose… but you have just forgotten it…"

I draw out my revolver and start looking around, trying to find the mysterious voice. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"Who am I… no, the better question is... who are you?"

My finger is on the trigger, looking around for the voice so I could see if it bleeds. If it bleeds, I can kill it. "I'm the guy who is going to kick your ass."

"Good to see you've still got that sense of humor. It would have been a shame if it was blown away like your memories… or should have I said **our** memories…"

I grit my teeth. "We are not the same, whatever the fuck you are. Do yourself a favor and show yourself."

" Alright then… if it means that much to you…"

I heard a noise coming from behind me. I spun around and aimed my gun at whatever was there. I was confused, I can only see a mirror showing… me but different. He was in leather armor, covered with blood and from what I could tell it wasn't his own.

I studied him for a few more minutes. His clothing seemed familiar, like I have seen it before. I looked at his facial features, reflecting my exact movements. When I stopped and stared, he started to do something. Something I wasn't doing… he was smiling.

Very sadistically, might I add.

"Do I look… familiar to you?"

He still reflects what I'm doing, but doesn't reflect my facial features. "Why do you look like me?"

He stops mimicking me. "No, no, no, no, I was you before you even were you."

I scowl at him. "What does that mean?"

He rolls his eyes. "For a guy who can crack open a terminal with the hardest locks on it, you're pretty dumb. You can't see that we are one in the same. That we are both killers, thieves, monsters of the Mojave. I walked the wasteland, killing everything in my way not because they needed to die… but because I could. So I can feel the rush, the adrenaline, the pleasure of watching whatever life slip from theirs eyes. Be it human, mutant or animal."

He too begins to scowl. "I hate what you have done. Helping the less fortunate, saving the Mojave from the Legion and NCR. But those don't matter as much as your little talk with Ulysses, damn would I have killed him and nuke the Mojave to hell just for kicks."

This fucker would have killed hundreds, even thousands. "News flash asshole, I'm in control and you are not me. No matter what you claim or what you said you would have done."

He shakes his head. "You know when 'we' were shot in the head, I'm really disappointed to find out that you didn't kill everyone. It almost broke my cold heart. But before that happened, I got a few laughs out of the world."

He steps aside, showing me what was behind him. God would I never forget what happened 'there'. The ashes and skeletons laid as far as the eye could see, the buildings and tunnels collapsed. Trapping anyone who wanted to escape the hell above inside. And the ones who were exposed… I watched as the radiation was eating away at their decaying bodies, dead and alive.

"This Courier… was my masterpiece. The final scrap of my work that you got to explore after the fires settled and the people died out. In a way, I'm glad that 'we' were shot in the head. I caused some problems that you had to try and fix."

He steps in front of the mirror again. "Im also glad that you found yourself a girl too…"

My eyes narrowed and my anger rises. "You so much as fucking **LOOK** at her, I WILL RIP YOU LIMB FROM LIMB UNTIL THERE IS NOTHING LEFT TO TEAR FROM YOUR CORPSE!"

He shrugs. "I'm not that interested, she may have a smoking hot body but that personality is too… bubbly for my liking. I probably would have just fucked her and left."

I immediately raised my fists and smashed the mirror, destroying the monster that laid on the other side. "You peice of shit asshole, I don't know what kind of nightmare this is but you are not real and you never will be."

The was complete and total silence until one voice whispered into the wind.

" _Keep telling yourself that…"_

My eyes jolted open and my breathing hastened as I looked around my surroundings for 'me'. I was only greeted by the sight of the tent and Lena wrapped in my arms. A gentle smile evident on her face. I'm glad she is having a happy dream, can't say the same thing for myself. What did he mean by 'I was you before you were even you.'

Was I really like that monster before I am the man I am today? No, no I don't believe it. I **refuse** to believe it. I never would have done those things to all those people, I would never have killed innocents. I will never hurt or betray Lena, she has earned everything from me. My heart and soul included.

This nightmare is just a dream, constructed from my conscious to make me remember what I keep trying to forget. What I did to the Divide will always lay on my shoulders. I'm just forgetting and so I am reminded in a more direct way.

It was still dark outside. I pull up my pip-boy and look at the time, seeing that it was 5:00 AM.

I put my pip-boy away and look down at Lena, contemplating whether or not I should get up or stay in our embrace. Grudgingly, I decide to get up. I don't want to wake her up, I need to think on some things.

I slowly leave her embrace and crawl out of the tent. Taking my duster, boots and hat with me. Once out, I put my boots, duster and hat on as I do every morning. There was a slow breeze in the air.

I looked at the tree that once impaled me, looking further down there was Genji. He was sitting in the exact same spot her was in when we met. He looked up at me. "Good morning, Courier."

I tipped my hat. "Morning."

"How's the dent?"

"It hurt and it's going to take some time to fix it."

There was a brief awkward silence between the two of us. Probably because we tried to kill each other yesterday before Lena intervened.

"Sorry about the dent, we were still fighting and I thought you were going to hurt Lena."

He waves his hand dismissively. "I hold no grudges against you. You were doing what you thought was right at the time and what I did to you was worse than the dent you gave me. In fact I was surprised that you even survived getting impaled to a tree."

A grin grew across my face. "Yeah, that hurt like a bitch and holy hell was it deep in there. Glad I brought plenty of stims and med-x with me."

I looked at his arm, seeing it still a bit damaged but still operational. "How's the arm? I would imagine it took a little while to fix."

He looked down at his damaged arm. "It indeed took a while but I managed and are no worse for wear."

I walked over to him and stuck my hand out. "Want to start over?"

He looked between me and my out stretched hand. He raised his hand gave me a firm shake. "Hello, my name is Genji Shimada."

"Howdy, my name is Courier."

We retract our hands to their original positions. I walk over and take a seat by where the fire once was, now there was only ash and charred wood. "When you said I needed help… what did you mean by that?"

"You fought me with bottled guilt, anger and sadness. You are plagued by something, something you want to bury and forget. But it doesn't let you, does it?"

I stare blankly at the ashes. "What do you meant by 'it'?"

I could feel his visor staring at the back of my skull. "Your mind, it doesn't want you to forget. Doesn't it?"

I look back at him, my stare hardening. "I'm not hiding anything."

He shakes his head. "You lie, it is present within you. You just try to hide it and the only time it shows is in your sleep."

He gets up from his spot and starts walking over to me. "How many nights have you lost because of it? How many times do you want to curse the world for the misgivings live gave you? How many times have you tried to keep your mind off it only to be reminded in your most vulnerable moments?"

I growl at him. "Shut up."

I look back at the ground as he continues. "It piles up, until it will break your mind and your will. Until the guilt and anger will consume you, making you into a husk of yourself. Until it turns you into your own shadow."

I get up from my seat on the ground and look at him. "Shut it tin man."

He was right in front of me. "You're afraid, afraid of what people with think of you. Afraid of what the people you care about will think, afraid of what she will think. But most of all…"

"Just… stop."

"You're afraid of yourself."

I grab him and throw him at the tree. I run over and pull out Lucky and put it right up to the absolute center of his forehead. "I said SHUT IT!"

He looks up. "You're afraid of what you were and what you might become."

I look at him with as much hatred as I could muster. "You don't know what happened there! You don't know how many suffered because of me! I will never forget what happened there because I can NEVER forget!"

I keep the gun up to his head for a few minutes before I realized what I am doing. I holstered the gun and stepped away. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have acted like that."

He gets up and puts a hund on my shoulder. "It's okay, you are forgiven."

"Whats (yawn) going on here?"

I look behind me, seeing Lena get out of the tent with her jacket, goggles, accelerator and a worried expression. I look at the dirt. "Its nothing Lena, Genji and I were discussing something."

He nods his head in agreement. "Yes, we were."

She wrapped her arms around my waist and put her head on my shoulder. "And it involved yelling?"

Genji and I looked between each other. "Yes."

She kissed my cheek. "Well whatever you two were yelling about woke me up so you got to deal with me now."

I rest my hands on hers. "I don't mind that."

She hums in approval.

I look between Genji and Lena. "So what now?"

Genji shrugs. "I do not know. What do you two want to do?"

Lena lets go of me. "How about breakfast and another one of your stories love? You know I always like to hear them and I'm sure Genji wouldn't mind."

He nods. "No, I do not mind at all. In fact I'm rather interested on what you experienced out in the Mojave wasteland."

I look at Lena. "Do you tell everybody that I'm from the wasteland?"

She gave me a sheepish smile. "Sorry, it just slips out sometimes."

I grin and shake my head. "Please refrain from doing that. I think I should be the one to break it to them."

She gives me an unconvincing shrug. "Sorry."

I dismissively wave my hand down. "It's fine."

I walk back and take a seat by the burnt out fire. I pull up my inventory and take out some more MREs for us to eat. I look back at them, still standing there. "Well, what are you waiting for? If you want a story then take a seat."

They walk over and take their seats. Lena right next to me and as close as possible and Genji sitting across from us. I hand Lena her MRE and reluctantly takes it. I hand Genji has but he just looks at it. He looks up at me. "I'm not hungry."

I put it away in my inventory for latter if we are stuck out here for longer than we expected. Lena and I start to cook our food as I think and try to come up with a story worth telling them. It took me a few minutes but I thought of one.

My food finished and I started to eat. "How about a story about revenge?"

Lena looked a little surprised. "A story about revenge? Oooh I feel so sorry for the bloke who pissed you off."

Genji looked blank to say the least. "Revenge… I wonder how you dealt with it?"

I took another bit of the bland and bitter food. "Listen and I will tell you."

They listened to my story, the one that started it all. Benny shooting me point blank in the head and burying me in a shallow grave. How long it took me to find him through rough sands and burning sun. How what ever got in my died where it stood or scurried off to whatever pit it came from. The story could have been branched off to other tales from another time but those will be for latter.

I explained that I search every lead and every clue that I have been given to find Benny, it took a while until I found that bastard and the look on his face made it all worth it.

 _One hour latter_

"What happened next?"

"I told the securitron an old hack code I remembered from an old pre-war book so I didn't have to pay for the unjustly toll to get in New Vegas. It worked and I walked to the Lucky 38 to meet the men who employed me, Mr. House."

She looked at me curiously. "Who is Mr. House?"

I look up at the sky to remember exactly who he was. "Mr. House was a 200 year old man that stayed alive because of some kind of decontamination- cryostasis tech his company developed before the bombs fell."

She looked a bit shocked. "A 200 year old man huh? Bet he had more wrinkles than the number of years he's been alive."

I cringed as she said that. The figure I saw in the pod was way different than the one on the monitor. "That too is another story for another time."

"You sure have a lot of side stories from this one?"

I scratch my chin. "Let's get back on track shall we? Where did I leave off… Okay so when I met Mr. House, he was at the very top of the Lucky 38. He was on a big monitor that only showed a man I would say in his late thirties with black hair, clean cut mustache and a business suit. He wanted me to finish my mission to bring what I was delivering before I was shot."

Genji cocks his head. "What was it?"

I pull out the item that everyone on every side sought out. "He wanted me to retrieve this for him."

Lena looked confused and Genji probably does as well but I can't see his facial features. "It's a… poker chip?"

She looked at further, studying the platinum chip. "I don't get why a man that owns a casino would want a random poker chip?"

I nodded my head in agreement. "Yeah, I didn't get it either until he explained it all to me. This chip was the final piece on the chessboard that would make or break the Mojave. This thing was the game changer and the Mojave depended on it."

I moved the chip between my knuckles. "This thing is what you would call a USB drive of sorts. It housed the information that would ultimately save the wild wasteland from both Caesar's Legion and the NCR."

"Woah…"

I smiled. "Mr. House wanted me to find Benny in the Tops Casino and retrieve the chip. Had to go through security which meant that I got most of my weapons taken away but…"

Genji pulled out a sharpening stone and one of his swords. "But?"

I moved some of my duster out of the way, showing Lucky to lena and Genji. "But let's just say I packed away something special for the bastard. So when I got in, the look on his face made my whole journey all worth it. He was shocked I was still alive. He shot me point blank in the head and I lived. He tried to defuse the situation before I would pull out my pistol and blow a messy hole through his and his bodyguards heads."

I start to laugh, remembering his face like it was yesterday. "After a little chat, he said he would tell me everything in his room away from prying eyes. From why he tried to kill me, why he needed the chip and what was going to happen to New Vegas."

I take off my hat and put it in my lap. "True to his word, he did explain everything to me. He told me that the chip was the key to New Vegas and that he needed it to help get Mr. House out of the picture. The bastard said he was going to be the new ruler of Vegas with whatever the chip held."

I start to shake my head. "At the end of the conversation, he fled and tried to kill me again. This time with his bodyguards. It was funny because I was thinking about letting him live but after that, his fate was sealed."

I run a hand through my hair before putting my hat back on. "After dealing with his bodyguards, I followed him until I ran into an uncovered tunnel inside the Tops and that is where I met Yes Man. Yes Man was securitron that was hacked and reprogrammed to do whatever is asked of him. No matter the question or person, he told me where Benny went and what his purpose was."

Still sharpening his sword, Genji looked up at me. "What was his purpose?"

"Yes Man's purpose was to be uploaded to Mr. House's system. Effectively controlling all of the securitrons and any function or devices connected to the Lucky 38's network. He was to be the second in command to benny if he became the new ruler of Vegas, doing anything he asked with a smile on his face. I couldn't let Benny win but I couldn't give Vegas to Mr. House, the NCR or the Legion either. I've seen enough from all sides to know that whatever side wins in the end, Vegas will be controlled by the corrupt and power hungry."

I put the chip back into my inventory. "So I came up with a plan. I was going to take Benny's plan and modify it to my needs so that way Vegas won't be ran with an iron fist or threats of doom hanging over the people's heads. Vegas is going to run itself and become a beacon to every wastelander that sees the city's lights."

Lena gave me somewhat of a stern look. "Did you take Vegas for yourself?"

I shook my head. "No, of course not. I wasn't going to run it or I would have been doing the exact same thing Benny or Mr. House would have done. So I let Yes Man take control over everything, no man or woman should ever have that much control."

She smiled at my response. I wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close. "Alright, now where was I… Oh yeah, Yes Man told me that Benny went down through an escape elevator that lead to the main lobby of the Tops. He escaped me with the chip in hand. But something else happened, a messenger from Caesar came to me. Telling me that Caesar wanted to meet me, the man who could kill hundreds in the search for the guy who shot me."

"He told me to head to Cottonwood Cove to board a raft to the main camp of the Legion. He gave me the mark of Caesar, a pendant to show his troops that I was a visitor of sorts. Before I left, I made a pit stop to the Lucky 38 to see Mr. House. I was going to play his little game for a little while before I would take him out of the picture. He told me to go to Cottonwood Cove as well because there is a bunker there that will used the data on the chip for what it was meant."

The sun started to rise and Lena snuggled into me more. "What did the chip do?"

"When I got to Cottonwood Cove and took the raft to the Legion's main camp to meet Caesar, I saw a certain someone in Caesar's main tent. Bounded and on his knees."

Genji put his now sharpened sword back into its sheath. "Benny?"

I noded. "Yeah it was Benny, he got caught trying to get to the bunker with the chip. I couldn't talk to him until I finished my business with Caesar so I talked to him and wanted me to do the exact opposite of what I needed to do. He told me to go to the bunker and destroy whatever was down there. He didn't want Benny or Mr. House interfering with his plans to control Vegas. He gave me the chip and I went down into the bunker. It was irradiated but I could manage with some Rad-x and radaways until I got to the end of the bunker."

I stop and look between the two of them before continuing. "Alright, this is where shit gets real. I had to fight off the bunkers security which composed of protectrons and laser turrets. Once I got to the main panel where the chip would go. I finally understood exactly why Mr. House wanted the chip he had been searching for. He had an entire army of securitrons on stand by and it also didn't help that the chip gives them the MK2 upgrade that further increase their lethality."

I take a deep breath before I continued. "Okay so when I finally got back outside of the bunker and returned to Caesar, he thought I destroyed the bunker because of the noise and quakes in the ground. He said I was allowed to deal with Benny how ever I liked as a reward, that was fine by me. As long as he gets what's comin to him."

I reached in my inventory and pulled out Maria, feeling over the smooth grip and shiny slide. "Once I finished my talk with Caesar, I went over to Benny. He was still bound and surprisingly not that afraid. Maybe he came to grips with what was going to happen to him. He asked me what was inside Mr. House's bunker. Since he was going to die anyways, I thought I would humor him. I told him what I saw, the army he had kept away from the world. Benny was just as surprised as I was at the time."

I let go of Lena and felt my bullet pendant, rubbing over the smooth texture of it. I could feel myself trembling a little. The pain and anger, what he took away from me. It all came to an end that day. "I told him that I was going to be the one to kill him. He took it as a joke, saying it was one of the better options when captured by the Legion. I told him he could close his eyes if he wants, but said he would rather see it coming. I was about to draw Lucky but… I saw something in his jacket. Something white, shiny and engraved."

Lena looked at my gun. "You mean that's…"

I noded. "Yeah, this is or was Benny's gun. Apparently the Legion did not take it off him so I decided on taking it instead. I pulled the slide back to see that it was still loaded. He saw what was I was doing before saying his last six words…"

"Do it Baby, make it clean."

I feel my anger boiling at this point but at the same time I feel… cold. "I leveled the gun right up to his head and shot him point blank. It was the exact same thing he did to me so I treated him the same way but this time, nobody would be walking out of the grave alive."

I look between the two of them for the longest time. I wonder if Genji still considers me as a teammate or if Lena still love me the same way. I felt lena grab my shaking hand. "Hey love… are you ok?"

I didn't reply. Its was difficult for me to kill Benny, but at the same time it felt so easy. But then it hit me. I sacrificed part of my soul, part of my humanity for revenge against a defenceless man. I killed him because I was angry, because I was filled with hate, because I was vengeful. **He** was right, I am a murderer.

I felt someone start to shake me. I looked over to Lena who looked at me with a worried gaze. "Are you alright? You have been staring off into space for a few minutes and it's starting to worry me."

I put Maria back into my inventory and got up from the ground. "If it's ok with you two, I need to think about something. Holler if you see the dropship or you need me."

I walked away from them. I hope Lena won't look at me differently.

 _(Tracer's pov)_

Im worried. Courier just told us his tale of revenge but I didn't think it would be about when he was shot. It must be difficult killing him, he looks guilty. When we are alone again, I will show him he is not alone and he can always depend on me. No one should carry a burden like he does.

I look to Genji as he looks far out in distance. "Genji, what did you think of the story?"

He keeps looking out in the distance. "He was misguided and filled with hate. He reminds me of my brother. After all this time, Hanzo still feels guilty for killing me or that's what he thinks he did."

He turns to look at me. "Courier is another case, he traveled across the wasteland to find the man responsible for making him lose everything. This 'Benny' was bound and helpless but he still killed him anyways. But every cloud has a silver lining. He learned from the wasteland because he had nothing and no one. Only the world around him could teach him how life was but he learned a different lesson."

"He lives with the guilt that haunts him and regrets what he did, even though Benny was far from innocent. He learned that sometimes the guilty need mercy. He seeks redemption even though he doesn't say it, he wants it. Perhaps he sought it out by helping Overwatch, to wipe away the blood stained to his hands."

I look at where Courier left. "He deserves redemption, he was forced into a role with no way out. He was made a piece in the Mojave's game. I care about him too much to let him drown in whatever blood and guilt he has because of it. I promised him that I would be there for him and I would give him the life he never had. The normal life."

I could feel Genji smiling through his visor. "Lena, if anyone can truly help and heal him it's you. You were always caring to others around you and you could always see the good in people."

I smile at the compliment. "Thanks love."

A brief silence fell but I quickly ended it. "Genji, what did you mean?"

He looks back to the now risen sun. "He could help Courier because his guilt haunts, he tries to bury it. Benny is a small fraction of what he hides, I fear that it runs far deeper than what we can imagine."

I solemnly nod. (sigh) "I just hope he will let us help him."

He rests a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry Lena, we will help him but for now we need to be patient. He will tell us in due time."

Courier is really hurting, I wish there is more I can do for him right now. I look out into the distance and see something. Something was flying towards us and it was very big. I squint my eyes. "Hey… is that… it's Winston! I will go get Courier."

I walk down the path Courier went, following the imprints in the sand and dirt. It took me a minute but I found him, sitting on an edge with his feet dangling over. I walk over to him and sat next to him. "Hey love."

"Hey Lena."

"Winston is coming, we saw him in off in the distance."

He nods. "Good to know."

He looks blank, that's his way of expressing sadness.

He didn't look at me. "Hey don't beat yourself up about the past. You were angry and frustrated. I could get why you did it."

He shakes his head. "I don't know. Even though he was a bit of an asshole, I shouldn't have killed him. I keep telling myself that his death was necessary if I was to save Vegas. But I don't know, he was bound and helpless."

I rub a hand on his back in an effort to comfort him. "Don't let his death worry you. He was cruel and no better than Mr. House."

He shakes his head again. "No, his death doesn't haunt me. It's the fact that I killed a defenceless man who had no means to stop me from killing him. It goes against everything I strived to stand for. You probably think I'm some kind of monster now."

I put hand on his cheek and turned his head to look at me. I looked him right in the eyes. "Courier, I will never think of calling you a monster. You are brave, strong, caring and not to mention roguishly handsome. You got that explorers charm that I like but most importantly…"

I leaned my head up, my lips grazing his. "I love you…"

He leaned forward and his lips met mine. Neither one on of us were fighting for control but exploring each other. One of his hands grabbed my waist pulled me up so that I was sitting on his lap. I kissed him more deeply, this new position gave us more leverage. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he laid his hands on my waist.

We both separated, panting from the lack of air our body's desired. He gave me a knowing smile. "Lena?"

I too started to smile. "What?"

He leaned up and kissed my cheek. "Coming here was probably the best thing I have ever done. If I didn't, I wouldn't have met you. You care for me like no other Lena and… I love you."

I brought my face close to his. "Glad we're on the same page."

"Ahem."

We instantly separated from each other and looked up above us. We could see Winston sitting on a ledge a couple feet above us, smirking at our 'display'. "Having fun you two?"

I blushed at his question. "Uhhhh hey Winston. Long time no see."

He looked between the two of us before bursting out in laughter, taking a few minutes before it finally died down. "Alright you two, let's get going."

We got off the ground and climbed our way back up to where the dropship was.

Winston looked back at the two of us. "So… I assume that the mission went well?"

I blushed. "Yeah, it went **Very** well."

Courier chuckled. "Hell yeah it did."

Winston climbs to the top, Courier and I were right behind him. We can now see the dropship, it was a total wreck. Armor plates were missing, scorch marks everywhere and the white and blue paint was faded. I nearly dropped to my knees at the sheer sight of my ship.

"Winston…"

I looked over to him and saw him push Courier in front of him as a meat shield. He gave me a nervous smile. "Yes Lena?"

I start to march towards him as he starts to cower behind Courier. "I'm about to shove my chronal dislocated foot so far up your ass that I'm going to have to tie my shoes through your mouth!"

Before I could hit him, Courier grabbed my shoulders and held me. I start to struggle and try to loosen myself out of his hold to hit the ape. "Courier, let me go! This ape broke my ship!"

I try harder to get out of his grip. "Lena. Lena, It's not worth it! Hitting him won't fix the ship and it won't make anyone feel better."

My struggle was in vain but that still hasn't stopped me from trying. "It would make me feel better!"

He tightens his hold on me and rests his head on top of mine. "Hey, just take deep breaths. In and out, nice and easy."

I started to follow his instructions, I felt my anger subside a little. "He broke my ship."

"I know he did but broke doesn't mean destroyed, we can fix it."

(sigh) "I know, you're right but she was beautiful when we left and now look at her."

He lets go of me. "It's fine and besides, I would like another crack at the ship to see what else I could fix."

He kisses my cheek as I giggle a little. "I bet you would."

He looks to Winston who was keeping his eyes off us. "Let's get back to the dropship, we've got some work to do when we get back to the watchpoint."

He nods. "Alright, everyone get on. It's time to head back."

Genji and I climbed aboard and I looked back to see Courier and Winston discussion something but I will ask about that latter. I head up the stairs to the cockpit to see the damage of my once beautiful ship.

 _(Courier's pov)_

I watched Lena climb aboard the ship right behind Genji. I looked to Winston. "Winston, I want to let you know something."

He looked at me. "What?"

I start to climb in the damaged dropship. "You owe me one."

He follows behind me. "Yeah, I know."

Winston walked up the steps to the cockpit and Genji took his seat on the floor, the exact same thing he has been doing since I met him. I walked over to one of the seats by door and sat down, pulling my hat over my eyes. Might as well take a nap, fixing the ship latter might take a while.

 **There we go, chapter 23 is finally finished. Sorry it took so long guys and gals, I had lots of things to do this week and I had little to no time to work on this. At last it is finished and I can start working on chapter 24.**

 **Also, thank you guys and gals for all the support and I promise that flirty will be in the next chapter. Feel free to post suggestions in the comments of ideas you people want in the story, I always open to new ideas.**

 **Remember to comment and review so I can do a better job at writing. -Paladin Leroy**


	24. A new member and a nighmare

_(Tracer's pov)_

It's been over an hour and I've looked at the extensive damage reports over and over again. I can't believe Winston got the ship damaged this much. I mean loss of extensive amounts of armour plating, damaged flight stabilizers, damage to the yaw and pitch controls, loss of power to multiple sections of the ship and a couple dozen other things. This is freaking **ridiculous** how busted the ship is. Its is going to be a very long night for me and Courier.

I looked out the cockpit window to see Gibraltar in the distance. Good because I'm suprised that this ship even flies. I start to set the ship in landing formation, directing it to the docking bay. I press a button to call for a certain AI.

"Hey Athena, can you land the ship for us?"

" _ **Sorry, I can't do that. The automatic controls for the dropship have been damaged and needs repairs. The dropship will need to be guided in manually."**_

I look down at the controls. (sigh) "Bollocks."

I look at Winston. "Since you broke it, you have to guide it in."

He nods. "Yeah, it's the least I can do."

I shrug and get out of the pilot's seat. "I'm heading down stairs, going to see what Courier and Genji are up to."

He looks down at the controls. "Alright but don't cause too much chaos though, I'm not sure the ship has much left in her to deal with you and Courier."

I give him a mock salute and walk down the stairs. I can see Genji sitting in the middle of the room and Courier sleeping on one of the seats by the door. I walk over the Genji. "Hello Genji, we will be landing soon."

He nods. "Good, it would be nice to stretch my legs again. Possibly even go to the range to practice my sword skills and aim after I get myself fixed."

I smile. "Alright love."

I walk over to Courier, still snoozing away in his chair. Should I wake him up or should I wait till we land? Guess it would be rude to wake him, this mission has been very tiring on both the body and mind. I take a seat right next to him.

I yawn a little, guess I'm tired too. I rub my eyes, I can't fall asleep until we land. The ship still needs fixing too. I see Courier shift in his sleep, muttering something. Something about 'stay away from her', whatever that might mean. Could it be about me or some other girl he knows? I will aks about that latter.

He starts to toss and turn, grunting in frustration. He must be having a nightmare. I lay my hand on his clenched fist. His breathing is now erratic, almost like he is hyperventilating. I start to shake him, trying to wake him and to my relief it works.

But in a bad way…

He immediately jumps out of the seat and draws his revolver, aiming it at me. I sit there, a little struck with fear right now with all things considered. He starts to regulate his breathing, finally starting to look and see what he is doing. He stares at the gun in his and before he holsters it. "Lena, I'm so sorry. I didn't hurt you did I?"

I shake my head and rush to him. "No, you just scared me there. You were having a nightmare and I didn't want you to suffer so I woke you up. You must get disturbed a lot in your sleep."

He puts his hat back on. "Yeah, a lot more than I would like and thanks for waking me up. I didn't like what I saw in there."

He walks over and sits next to me. "Still, that doesn't excuse me from pulling a gun on you and I'm sorry."

I grab his hand and hold it tenderly, he starts to do the same. "It's alright, I should have expected you to act like that considering where you came from and how unforgiving it is."

He looks at his feet. "But I could have killed you, that's not ok."

I grin. "But you didn't, you knew what you were doing and I'm still alive."

He shakes his head. "But I could have and that's…"

I put a hand on his cheek, turning his head a little. "Ok, you have self control and I know you wouldn't hurt me."

He nods. "You put too much faith in me."

I cheekily grin. "Well placed faith."

He gives me a poker face. "Lena quit it."

I widen my grin. "Quit what?"

His face twitches, trying not to smile. "Seriously, stop it."

I grin my face closer. "What are you going on about?"

A smile grows on his face and I kiss his cheek. "Now that wasn't so hard, wasn't it?"

He shakes his head a little. (sigh) "I just can't help but smile at that face."

"That's the spirit."

I felt a thud through the ship, we must have landed. I look between Courier and Genji. "Time to get out guys, we are here."

Courier and I get up from our seats as Genji gets up from his spot on the floor. The ship lands albeit shakily. The ship's landing shocks must be broke too.

The doors open and we could see the docking bay empty, tools scattered everywhere. Guess Winston was scrambling around trying to find the right tool to try and repair the ship. Genji walks out of the ship. "Home sweet home."

Courier and I follow. "Genji, you might want to find Mercy to fix you up. You covered with dents and scratches."

He nods as he starts to walk away. "Alright, it has been a while since I've seen Angela."

"See ya love, I bet you two have some catching up to do."

Genji walks out the door. "Indeed we do, have some catching up to."

I look at Courier. "So, what now?"

He looks to me. "I'm going to go take a shower and maybe you should too. I bet we aren't very pleasant for the nose right now."

I nod. "Alright, meet you here after?"

He shakes his head. "No, go to the cafeteria. I promised I would cook for you and I won't break that."

My stomach rumbled at the thought of Courier making something. He makes the best weird food. "Alright, see you soon."

He kisses me lightly and walks out the door. "Bye Lena."

I stood there, feeling my cheeks heat up. This has been the best mission **ever.** Courier loves me and I love him, we got Genji and we are back at the Watchpoint so we can clean ourselves up. I walk out the door, heading to my room. It was about damn time for a shower.

 _(Courier's pov, twenty minutes later)_

I get out of the shower, putting on my worn duster and hat. I get out of my room and walk to the cafeteria, taking the usual route I take. I look up, too bad the sun is getting blocked by the clouds. I thought the sun never set in paradise?

I open the cafeteria doors and walk to the kitchen. I pull out some Gecko meat and a ton of vegetables. She hasn't tried Gecko steaks yet and I plan to introduce her to wasteland cuisine. I walk over to one of the grills and turn it on, waiting for it to heat up before cooking. Gecko meat was tough on the outside but very tender on the inside. Good flavor it's cooked right, good thing I cook it best. I flip the meat and walk over to one of the drawers and pull out a cutting knife and board. I set it next to the vegetables so it will be ready after I finish the steaks.

I pull out some grounded spices from the wasteland consisting of some dried vegetables and grounded nuts for flavor. I take off the jar lid and immediately I was hit with spice's smell. It was strong, almost intoxicating.

I put very little on the steaks, if I put too much it will taste bad. I also have to be sparing with it, I only have one jar of it and it is very good. I will only use it for special occasions or once in a blue moon.

"That smells good."

I almost dropped the jar of wasteland spices. I must have not been paying attention when I was cooking. I looked behind me to see a girl in a light blue and pink jump suit. I give her a straight face. "Can I help you?"

She peeks over my shoulder. "What are you cooking?"

I flip the steak and put some of the spices on, shuffling the steaks a little to spread the spice out. "Food."

She rolls her eyes. "What kind of food?"

I turn down the heat and let the steak cook slowly so it won't just burn off the spices. "The kind you eat."

She playfully hit my shoulder. "I know that but-"

"Its Gecko steak and after this I'm making a salad named where I'm from."

She looks down at the cooking meat in shock. "It must have been a very big lizard."

I shake my head, flipping the meat again. "To be honest, it was very small. If I want to go kill a very big lizard, I would go hunt fire Geckos."

She tilts her head. "Fire Geckos?"

I lower my hand a foot or two. "Imagine a large lizard around this tall that, is purple and spits fire."

She gives me a weird look. "I can't tell if your joking or not."

I cut some of the meat off and see if it is cooked all the way through. It was so i might as well try the taste test. I put it in my mouth and chew it slowly, it had a tangy nut flavor. It tasted very good in my opinion.

I turn the grill off and put the steaks on two separate plates. "Who said I was joking."

She shrugs before sitting on the counter, giving me a flirtatious smirk as I start to work on the wasteland salad. "So, Winston never told me your name. You mind telling me?"

"My name is Courier."

She puts a finger to her chin. "Courier… weird name."

I cut all the veggies and put them on the plates next to the steak. "I'm not exactly normal."

I pull out a home made brew of Wasteland Tequila, a nice strong drink with good taste. I walk over to one of the cabinets, looking for glasses for Lena and I to drink out of. "Hey, what are you looking for?"

I open another cupboard, no glasses inside. "Im looking for drinking glasses."

She points to the cupboard farthest away from me. "Try that one."

I walk over to the cupboard, seeing glass cups and wine glasses. I pull out two and look over to her. "Thanks Hana."

She gives me a bemused smirk. "How do you know my name? Are you a fan?"

I shake my head, opening the freezer and grabbing an ice tray. "No, never heard of you until mission briefing a few days ago."

She gave me the biggest dumbstruck face I have ever seen. "What… how have you not heard of me? I'm a world renown gamer and actress."

I put the ice in the glasses and put the ice tray back. "I am from somewhere vastly different from here. I come from a world destroyed by nuclear warfare, movies for me died over two hundred years ago."

She gave me a poker face. "Wow, now that's something."

I shrug and put all the food, glasses and silverware on a tray. "You get used to it."

She finally noticed that there are two plates of food and two glasses. "Hey, who is the other plate for?"

I pick up the tray and walk out the kitchen. "It's for Lena."

She follows me. "Lena?"

I put the tray down. "Tracer, sorry I forgot you don't know her real name."

She shrugs. "It's all good."

I sit down and she sits down next to me, closer that I would like. So, how long have you been here?"

I pull up my pip-boy. "Here as in world or here as in Overwatch?"

She scooches a little closer. "Why not both?"

I put my pip-boy away. "I have been here in this world for around a week, maybe more. As soon as I was teleported, I was in the middle of the fight in Numbani and I decided to help them. They offered me a spot in Overwatch and I had nowhere to go so here I am."

She hums. "I'm glad that you did, I would have been missing out on some eye candy."

I froze. She better not be doing what I think she is doing. I felt her touch my arm and gently rub it with her hand. I turn to look at her. "What are you doing?"

She looks at me with a devious grin. "Just making sure what I see is real, you wouldn't believe how many guys have tried to impress me with something fake."

I clench my hand in frustration. I would have thought she would have got the idea that I am with Lena considering that I made food for her. "C- ahem... could you please..."

I'm not sure what I am supposed to do. I have honestly never been in a situation like this. Where is Lena when you need her?

I hear the cafeteria door open and I look over, seeing Lena. I give her a look that practically screamed **please help me**! She nodded and walked over to us and taped on Hana's shoulder. "Excuse me but what are you doing?"

Hana turned around and looked at Lena. "I'm just talking to Courier we were… having _very_ good conversation."

Lena crosses her arms. " **Were** implies past tense and aren't you close enough? Your making him uncomfortable."

She looks at me and starts to trace her hand back up my arm. Going slowly until she reaches my shoulder and moves on to my neck and jaw. "Im sure he is _uncomfortable_."

She gave Hana a scowl. "I speak for the both of us when I say that you need to lay off him. He's taken."

Hana stops. "Really now? Then why is he letting me do this?"

I start to move away a little as she moves a little gets closer. Lena grabbed the arm that was touching me. "He is not doing anything because he doesn't know what to do, he has never been in a situation that you've put him in."

Hana looks back to me. Devious grin turned into a sultry smile. "First time for everything… am I right."

Lena was about to blow steam on what this girl was suggesting. "Stay away from him!"

Hana hums before getting up from her seat next to me. "Alright."

She walks to the cafeteria door before blowing me a kiss. "See you around Courier… I hope we can _talk_ some more."

Lena growled at her as she walked out. "She touches you again I'm going to kill her."

I rubbed my face. (sigh) "Just let it go, you know that only one woman can sway me."

She sits down across from me. "Yeah but she has the odasity to flirt with you right in front of me! That is just wrong and someone needs to take her down a few notches."

I look down at the plates of food. "If you're going to blame anyone then blame me because I could have done something but I didn't. I just sat there and-"

She puts her hand up for me to stop. "It's alright, I know you have very little experience in relationships and people flirting with you. I want you to do something for me."

"What?"

She gains a strict face. "Stay away from her. She's bad voodoo. Also if she tries to flirt with you again, you need to get away from her and make sure to tell me so I can have a reason to strangle her."

I skeptically look at her. "That seems a bit of a violent solution for you."

She runs a hand through her unkempt hair. "I don't trust her. Especially with you."

I nod. "That is understandable."

I hand Lena her plate, glass and silverware. "Sorry if the food is not piping hot. I thought you would have been here sooner."

She smiles and shrugs. "It's far better than the MRE's and did you try something new? The meat looks different and the salad looks great."

She noticed the bottle. "What's that?"

I took the bottle and poured her some of its contents. "Its homemade tequila."

After I finished it she took a small sip, tasting the sweet flavor of it. She looks at the drink. "This is good. What's in this?"

I pour myself some of my alcoholic beverage. "I added some prickly pear fruit and some mutfruit to add some flavor. I would like to think the results of the mixture came out well."

She sets the drink down and picks up her silverware. "Lets dig in shall we?"

I nod and take a bite of my food. It was still warm and flavorful. I look to see Lena take bite of her food. I hope she likes it. "Lena, what do you think? Be honest."

She takes a sip of her tequila. "It's weird but a good kind of weird, taste kind of like chicken and mixed nuts with some spice."

I take another bite. "Its Gecko steak with some of my hand picked grounded spices and nuts from the Mojave wasteland."

She takes another bite. "Whatever it is, it tastes good."

I nod in agreement. "I only have one jar of my wasteland spices so I'm only going to use it for special occasions."

She takes another bite. "Then why did you put it on the meat if just for special occasions?"

I shrug and take another bite. "I felt like it and I wanted you to try it."

She takes another bite. "I'm glad you did because it's good."

I nod and continue to eat. "So, what are we going to do after we finish eating? Are we going to work on the dropship or are we going to hold that off and do something else?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, I think we should take a day off and relax. We can work on the ship tomorrow."

I took a sip of my drink. "I'm good with that."

I finish eating my steak and begin to work on my salad. "Do you think we can watch another movie soon?"

She nods. "Of course love. Do you have any preferences of what do you want to watch?"

I quickly go through my salad. "I have no particular kind of movie. How bout you choose for me?"

She finishes her steak. "Alright, I've go a few ideas on what to watch."

I set my plate and silverware on the tray in front of us. "Lena, I've been thinking…"

She takes her last bite of her salad and sets it on the tray along with her plate. "About what?"

I take a second before continuing. "What are we? I love you but I hardly know anything about you so I was wondering if we could just talk. Get to know each other better so there won't be anymore heartbreak between us."

She gave me a reassuring smile. "I'm alright with that so… where do you want to start?"

I look at her. My eyes staring into her hazel ones. "Anywhere you want to. As long as you're ok with it."

She rests a hand under her chin. "Hmmm... where to begin? How about my time as a pilot? I've got quite a few stories from there."

I rest a hand on hers. "As long as it's about you."

She nods. "Alright, a few months after my… mum died I was drifting around London until I came across some posters. The posters were for my country's army, air force and navy. When I was younger, I wanted to be a pilot. I always wanted to be a pilot and I felt that I needed to give back to the world so I decided to enlist for my the RAF. I wanted to make my family proud, wherever they may be…"

Her hand tenses for a second. "Im sure they are proud Lena. They raised one of the sweetest girls I have had the pleasure in loving."

She blushed a little before continuing. "As I was saying, I enlisted to the RAF as a pilot and I rose through the ranks like a shooting star through the night sky. So many people thought I couldn't do it, they thought that I was just a cocky hot shot with a love for the sky."

She looked at the RAF symbol on the arm of her jacket. "I made a few friends during my time there. Most of them were jealous of my natural skill and determination to be a pilot. The first friend I made was a guy named Oscar. He was my co-pilot who ran most of my missions with me. He was one of the few who didn't die knowing me."

She looked back at me. "Another one of my friends was Jessabelle. She was one of the mechanics who usually fixed the ships and jets before and after missions. She later resigned and went back to her husband and son."

I nodded to myself. "They sound like good people."

She smiled at that. "Yeah, they were the best friends for a girl could have. I haven't had the time to see them though. Wonder what they would say after hearing about the accident, about me joining Overwatch, becoming a hero…"

I rest a hand on her shoulder. "Im sure they would be proud of you. I bet Jessabelle's son would be wowed that his mom knew Tracer, he would be jealous even."

She nodded before I took my hand off her shoulder. "So, you were telling me a story that I would love to hear."

She started humming to herself as her eyes drifted to the ceiling. "Where was I…"

She snapped her fingers together. "Yeah, I remember what I was going to say!"

She looked back at me with an excited face. "A month after my training was over, I met up with Oscar and Jessabelle at the testing range. They were screwing around with one of the jet turbines, throwing some fruit behind the turbine and seeing which will go farther."

I chuckled a little. "Oh, this ought to be good."

She enthusiastically noded. "Me being the fun and loving Brit that I am, decided to join them. We tested with apples, bananas, mangos and a handful of other fruits. God throwing that watermelon and watching it shatter on the pavement was amazing."

She looked back at the kitchen. "I wound if we have any watermelons here?"

She looked back at me as I shrugged. I don't even know what a watermelon is beside it is a melon fruit. It would not be called water **melon** if it wasn't a melon.

"Well, as I was saying. We threw countless fruit behind the turbine that we lost count after sixty seven. But all good things must come to an end. When we threw the whole basket of fruit in… let's just say it did not **completely** land on the pavement."

I was confused for a second. "If it didn't land on the pavement, where did it land?"

She gave me a sheepish smile and started tapping her fingers together. "It landed on someone… a certain higher ranking someone."

I repulsed the urge to facepalm. "Don't tell me…"

She gingerly shrugged and smiled. "It landed on the Air Marshal. He was so pissed with us even if he held a stosic face. It also didn't help that I was the highest rank out of the three of us."

I started to chuckle which then turned into a full blown laugh. "You mean (heh) to (hehe) tell me that (hehe) you got fruit shit (hehe) all over your commanding officer!?"

She nodded. "Yep, all over his uniform and cap."

*whistle* "Holy shit you guys must have got it bad. I mean I know nothing about military punishment but I can only imagine."

She shakes her head. "Actually, the punishment wasn't that bad. I mean punishment was punishment but it wasn't that bad."

"What did the Air Marshal do to you three?"

She softly laughed to herself. "He made us clean up the mess on the pavement, clean his suit and dismantle and reassemble the jet turbine."

I cocked my head. "I bet you had fun on that last one."

She nodded. "Yeah, I liked doing that one. Even if it was tiring, I still had some enjoyment out of it. The Marshal also gave us fruit names for a few months. Oscar was kiwi, Jessabelle was passion fruit and guess what I was?"

I thought about it for a moment before answering. "Orange, right?"

She nodded and did a salute. "Yeah, Flying Officer orange reporting for duty Sir!"

I nodded. "The color suits you."

I looked at the clock, seeing it was 7:53. I guess time does go fast when you're having fun. "After I clean the dishes you want to watch a movie?"

I get up from my seat and with the tray and walk to the kitchen. I took a few minutes to clean everything but it got done and we are good to go. I walk out and look at her. "You ready?"

She gets up and runs to the doorway. "You wanted to watch a movie right?"

I get up from my seat and follow her. "Any movies you have in mind?"

She turned around and began to walk backwards. "I've got a few ideas."

 _A few hours latter_

Lena and I are currently watching a movie called 'Titanic'. A romantic/drama movie from the late 1990's from Lena's description. The movie is alright. I'm not a big fan of drama or romance despite being in a relationship for the past few days. We are currently on the part where the ship crashed and is currently sinking. People are dying left and right, they are even jumping off of the deck only to freeze to death from the ice cold water below.

Lena was clutching my hand tightly. I look down as she starts to cry. I raise my hand and I start to wipe the tears away. She looks up at me briefly before returning her eyes to the screen. "This part always gets me."

I look back at the screen to see Rose on a piece of wood or metal, floating in the water as jack is right next to her. Arms clutching whatever is keeping Rose floating. He wasn't breathing, not moving and probably dead from hypothermia. The scene cuts to a boat with a group of men searching for survivors.

Rose keeps trying to wake Jack up when everyone knows he won't wake up. It was kind of sad, I will admit that. I would do the same thing as him and put Lena first before all else. Even if I die in the process.

Eventually Rose realizes that jack isn't going to wake up. She said 'I will never forget you.' as he sank to the bottom of the ocean. She got off the raft and swam over to one of the frozen corpses. She grabbed the whistle and started blowing the whistle. It got their attention and they started to paddle the boat over to her.

Well at least she is going to survive. Wait a second… what if Jack got on the raft? I'm sure it's big enough for both of them to fit. But then there is the buoyancy problem. Wait, if Rose was wearing her live preserver… what if he put that under the raft to add more buoyancy to it so it could take more weight for the both of them to fit? I mean it could work but I wouldn't know. I'm just a Courier, not a scientist or mathematician. This would need some calculating.

I look back to Lena, she was no longer crying but her eyes were puffy and red. I pulled her closer to me as she started to snuggle deeping into my arms and chest. I forget to look back at the screen as I keep my gaze locked on her. She looked tired, cutely tired. She notices that I was no longer paying attention to the movie. "Hey, what are you looking at? You're going to miss the ending."

I kiss the top of her head. "Im looking at something pretty."

She grabs the remote and turns the movie off. "You always know what to say to make a girl blush love."

I get a bit more comfortable on the bed with her. "Only for you and just you."

She turns off the light on her nightstand. "Night love."

"Night love."

She looks up. "Are you mocking me?"

I shake my head. "No, I'm just saying good night and you are my **love**."

I take hat off and set it right next to my duster and Lena's chronal accelerator. She snuggled back into me as soon as I layed back down. "Good because you're **my love** as well."

I hum in approval as I started to drift off to sleep.

 _(Courier's dream)_

Black… just utter blackness is all I can see.

It's endless, it's a dark abyss. The only place where I'm vulnerable, where I'm a threat to everyone… even to myself.

It's where **HE** resides. It's where **HE** lives in the back of my head. Like a leech, feeding off my sanity to drive me insane, to steal everything I ever cared for… even her.

He shows me things, things that I never want to see. No matter how honest or horrible it is. I just can't… I **won't** believe what he says. I won't believe what he has done before I became the man I am today.

The scene starts to change and the darkness fades. I look around my surroundings and see that I'm… back in Goodsprings? I look around more and I can Immediately tell where I am.

Im at the Goodsprings cemetery, standing right next to the hole where I was buried alive. Just… barely… alive…

"Does that hole seem familiar to you? It sure does to me."

I turn around and see **him** standing there. Looking between the shallow grave and me. He walks up to me. "Well… does it?"

I scowl at him. "Yeah, it sure as hell does."

He scoffs. "How so?"

I resist the urge to pull Lucky and shoot him. "It's where you died and I came into the picture."

He nods before. He walks over to the grave and kneels down. Something… is not right. He is not torturing me straight off the bat. He is planning something. He looks up from the grave and begins to look around until he spots it. "You want to know something funny?"

I keep my hand over the revolver in my holster. "What?"

He picks something off the ground and wipes away the dirt and sand. "This one moment changed everything. You didn't save the Mojave, Benny did. He created something entirely opposite from what he killed here. He shot an animal…"

He gets up from the ground and walks up to me. "...and outcomes a savior. A _**righteous**_ man with will of a hundred men. It makes me wonder…"

He holds out his hand to me. Revealing a spent bullet casing from a handgun. "Did god kill me? If he even existed out in this hellhole?"

I don't take the casing out of his hand. "I couldn't tell you. I have never been a believer but it's nice to see other people have faith in righteous being. Having hope that in the end, there will be a new beginning. A world without violence, a world where nobody needs to kill each other just to survive."

He gives me a deadpan stare. "You read some of crispy's 'oh so holy book for the naive' didn't you?"

I shrug. "What if I did? What are you going to do about it?"

He starts laughing. "This is just **RICH**! You instigate me, you loathe what I am and what I did-"

"What you claim what you've done."

He grunts in irritation. "I don't like getting interrupted. Especially by a goodie two shoes like you."

He starts to walk around the various graves. "As I was saying…"

He stops on one of the grave before sitting on one of the head stones. "You hate everything about me. You wish you could draw that punny pea shoot and kill me. You just don't get it…"

He is right about me wanting to put a bullet in him. "Get what?"

He rests one of his legs on his knee. "We were stronger than most. We had the power, the will to decide the fate of everything and everyone in the whole west of the wasteland. If Benny didn't kill me and make you, then I would have brought this war torn world to it **knees**. I would have made everyone suffer just because I could. But you forgot and I was discarded from your head. I could have made a whole new world out of this."

He gives me a death glare. "Humanity is a plague, I mean look at! The government is gone, the people turned into rapist, thieves, murderers and COWARDS!"

I rush up to him and push him off the gravestone. "And what would you have done! You are no better than them! You said you kill because it's fun, you said you kill because you could, you kill because you had nothing better to do! You would have killed everyone!"

He lays on his back. "I would have created a world without weakness! A world where only the strong survive and the weak would perish!"

I walk over to him and step on his rib cage with as much force as I could muster., holding him in place. "You sound just like Caesar!"

He grins. "Maybe he and I have something in common."

I draw Lucky and put it point blank in his face. "Yeah, both of you will be dead."

He leans his head up so the barrel of my gun was touching his forehead. "Do it… you will just be proving what I said before. You- **WE** are nothing but monsters out in the wasteland."

He closes his eyes with another sadistic grin across his face. "Come on… do it. I know you want to. You have me held down, completely defenceless with a gun to my head."

My finger was itching right now to kill him. "It won't matter if I kill you because you're just a figment of my consciousness and paranoid delusions. You are here to torment me so that way I can never forget what I have done. You say things I don't what to hear, you show me things I don't want to see. You… are… not… real..."

" _Keep telling yourself that…"_

I pulled the trigger and the world around me shattered.

 **There, chapter twenty four is done and it took a while to do it. I was running out of ideas for this one but at least it's done. Also, what do you guys think that the evil Courier wanted to destroy the world so he could make it out of his own image? Was this a good Idea or not? If not then I am fine with going back and changing it.**

 **Another question, did I do good on being flirty? I have never done this sort of thing so I was drawing blanks at the time.**

 **Before anyone asks, Genji did not interfere when Courier woke up and aimed his gun at Tracer because he knew that he would not hurt her. He has faith that Courier can and WILL control himself. Until Zenyatta gets there, he will be keeping a close eye on him.**

 **Feel free to post any ideas you guys want to be put into the story because remember, I am always open for new ideas. Thanks for the support as well, I really appreciate it.**

 **One last thing… ALMOST 100 FOLLOWS AND 70 FAVORITES! This is huge! I never honestly thought you guys and gals would be reading this story. It was more of a side project in the beginning because I had a few ideas for a crossover story. Thank you! Thank you everyone for being patient for every chapter and thank you for everything you guys have posted and commented on.**

 **Remember to comment and review so I can do a better job a writing. -Paladin Leroy**


	25. Paranoia, new friend and more shooting

I was falling further into the abyss as the fake cemetery faded into nothingness. In this world, it felt like I was falling for hours with no end. I looked around for anything of interest or importance.

Above, below, left, right, it just doesn't matter. There was only darkness here.

I closed my eyes and waited until I hit the bottom… if there was one.

…

…

…

I hit solid ground and dies where I 'landed'. I jolted up, gasping for air. I looked around where I was and was relieved that I was here… with Lena at Gibraltar. I lifted my hand and wiped away the little sweat on my forehead.

I look at her, sleeping so soundly. At least she doesn't have what I've got. At least she isn't haunted by the demons inside. I close my eyes and take a mount to regain my composure. Trying to calm my breathing and my hastily beating heart.

I'm here… not **there** with that bastard. No matter how many times I've killed him, he just keeps coming back. I could send a dozen fat man's at him and he will be back… like always. I'm rather surprised he didn't try to torture me with something or someone. He just taunted me, trying to belittle me. I won't break. I need to be strong and this will pass.

I look back to Lena before getting up from the bed. I walk to lena's bathroom and start to fill up the sink with hot water. Once it was filled I cup some water in my hands and splashed my face. The water was refreshing and soothing to my skyrocketing nerves.

I looked up at the mirror, fogged up from the steam. I looked closer into the image and noticed that I was wearing something dark. I looked down at my shirt and saw the white shirt I always wear. I looked back up before I reluctantly start to wipe the fog off the mirror.

Now I could see what I was wearing in the reflection, it was a leather jacket. A very **familiar** leather jacket. My breathing seized as I look at him. This is something entirely new. Never have any of my nightmares or doubts appear like this.

He stops mimicking me and waves with a sinister grin on his face. I immediately splash some more hot water on my face and look back up to see **him** gone. I take another moment to breathe before unplugging the sink and letting the water drain.

I walk back out grab my things being my duster, hat and boots. I take extra care to be quiet to not wake Lena. I step outside and walk to the edge, the area where Lena and I go to be alone. I sit down and rub my eyes. Im seeing things that aren't real, I'm hallucinating… right?

I saw him in my reflection, the dreams are getting worse. To the point where I'm seeing things in real life. To be honest… I'm a little spooked. This has never happened no matter what food I ate, drinks I had or any poison or venom I've been exposed to. This is something new.

He is gone… for however long he wants to be. This might be a one time thing. I certainly hope so because if I have to deal with him day and night I might just lose my mind.

Wait…

Is he here to make me go crazy? Is he here to make me look insane? Is that why he is there in my dreams and now starting to appear in real life? Maybe I could talk to Mercy and ask her to perform a psychiatric evaluation? We could see how bad it is.

But how would Lena take it? How would she feel if I was crazy? Would she support me? Would she turn me away? No… I can't tell her, soon but not now.

I sit and look out into the sea. The still hasn't risen so it is still early in the morning right now. I might as well go and work on the dropship while I'm up. It will help keep my mind off this.

I take a moment before I get up and walk to the docking bay, ready to do something productive.

 _Hours latter_

I remove the damaged armor plate and begin to take out the shrapnel from the ship. I start to reconnect the damaged wires and fix anything out of the ordinary. I grab a new armor plate and attach it where the damaged one was. Once I was finished with that, I finished the entire left side of the dropship in the span of a few hours I would have to guess.

I grab a clean cloth and begin to wipe away all of the dirt, grime and other things attached to the skin. I looked at the what once was white cloth is now gray, almost black from the dirty substances.

I walked over and sat down, leaning my back against the ships newly repaired side. It has been a long morning. I pull up my pip-boy and take out a sunset sarsaparilla. I take the bottle cap off and slowly drink it, I've earned this.

"Courier."

I tiredly looked up and who I saw made me want to throw my bottle. It was Hana.

She came in and walked over to the suspended mech in the bay. I did not respond to what she said. I looked down at the bottle in my hands. I now wish I had grabbed something stronger.

I chugged the rest of my drink before putting it in the my inventory for me to deal with latter. I got up and started to get back to work, grabbing my tools and equipment to the other side of the ship. I start to remove yet another shredded armor plate and start to fix some of the internal mechanisms.

"I'm sorry."

I stopped and turned around. She looked like she was doing something with the mech that was no doubtfully her's. "Come again?"

She turned around to face me. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for how I acted yesterday. It was unprofessional and it was downright uncalled for."

I picked up a new armor plate and attach it to where the damaged one was. "Now that's something we can agree on."

I start to remove another damaged plate as she kept going. "Yes my uh… advances were rather straightforward and wrong. You were freaking ripped and very handsome. I just had to make sure it wasn't fake."

I scoff as I continue to work. I don't think this is an apology but rather an excuse to save herself. "Anything else you want to add to that or is that it? I've got a lot of work to do and I don't need any more bullshit today."

(sigh) "I'm sorry for bothering you…"

I fixed some more wires before I stopped. I hate it when I am too nice for my own good, but it's just who I am. I look back at her, now she is working on the mech. I look back at my work before I grudgingly spoke. "I accept your apology."

She stopped what she was doing and to say she went off like a light was an understatement. She ran up to me and hugged me as hard as she could. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

I stood there for a moment. "Could you do me a favor?"

"Hmmmm?"

"Could you let go please? Your hands are a little too close to somewhere you are not allowed to touch. Not if Lena had anything to say at least."

She quickly let go and blushed a little out of embarrassment. "Whoops, got a little carried away there."

I back up a little and nod. "Yeah just please be a little more mindful of where your hands are going next time?"

She nods. "Of course."

I nod before turning back to work on the dropship some more. Some more mechanisms there and some loose or torn wires here and done. Another piece down, a dozen more to go plus the right side engines and hover units to work on too.

She rested herself against the ship as I worked. I know she apologised and 'sort of' made up for what she did but I'm still a little uncomfortable with her being near me. She was looking at what I was doing. "So, what are you doing?"

I reconnected some more wires and had to replace a few entirely. "Just fixing the dropship after Winston broke it trying to help South Korea's defence against the reactivated omics there. Also getting you as well."

I saw a jagged piece of the armor plating sticking out. I reached down and started to pull it out. It was loose but very firm in there. I started to wiggle and pull. It was getting looser and looser until it came out. Tearing the shit out of my hands. "Ah! Ow fuck."

I step back for a moment and look at the damage. The cuts and gashed ran acrossed my left hand finger tips. My right hand was cut along my fingers and part of my palm. Blood was running everywhere. Off my fingertips, down my arms, making a mess on the floor that I will have to clean up latter. Hana rushed from her spot over to me. "Courier, are you alright?"

I grabbed one of the clean cloths and put pressure on my cuts. "I'm fine. Ive dealt with worse than this."

She looked at all of the blood coming from me. "Are you sure? You are bleeding everywhere!"

I nod before wrapping my hands with the cloth and pulling up my pip-boy. I take out a stimpack and inject it in my bandaged hand. A wave of relief comes over to me as the pain and bleeding subsided. Good because I almost stained another shirt with blood.

The cuts on my pip-boy gloved hand healed as well. I looked over at Hana as she looked at my hands and the used syringe in curiosity. "What is that?"

I put the needled away for me to deal with latter. "It's a stimpack, it heals nearly any kind of wound."

I use the clean cloth to wipe away any blood that was on my arms. After I did that, I got back to work. Hana looked at the blood stained cloth. "I bet doctors would kill for those stimpacks."

I shrug. "I might tell Mercy how to make them when the time is right. She seemed quite content with my cybernetics when we met but telling her about my stimpacks might break her. For now I am going to keep them to myself unless anyone needs them during a fight."

Before anyone could say anything else, there was a buzzing sound. I start to look around for the source until Hana pulled out a small rectangular device. The buzzing stopped after she started to tap it repeatedly with her fingers.

After a minute or two, she notices my confused face. "Whats with the face?"

I point to the rectangle device in her hands. "What is that and why was it buzzing?"

She looked confused and surprised. "What? Have you never seen a smart phone?"

I cock my head to the side. "Smart...phone?"

She facepalms. "JFC, does Tracer not teach you anything?"

I give her a deadpan stare. "What am I supposed to be learning?"

She gestures to the device in her hands. "Technology, current events, things like that."

I continue to work on the ship. "I've learned a little about this world like the omnic crisis, Blackwatch, Overwatch and something about a guy named Mondatta. I've also watched a few movies too but other than that, that's all I know."

She gives me a sceptic look. "What kind of movies?"

I take a moment to think back to the titles. "Star Wars episode four and Titanic."

She scoffs. "I don't know why she would bother with Star Wars when Star Trek is clearly better."

I pull out an unusually large piece of shrapnel from a small entry hole. "What the hell is Star Trek?"

I fix some more wires before looking back at Hana. Her eye was twitching a little. I think I hit a nerve just now. "Now are you alright? You keep your face like that and it will freeze."

She rests a hand on her forehead. "I really need to talk to Tracer about bringing you up to speed."

I chuckle a little. "Good luck with that. She trust you as far as she could throw you."

She rubs the back of her neck. "Yeah, I guess you're right…"

I put a new armor plate where the damaged one was. "Don't freak out about it. Im sure it will pass and she will forgive you. I mean I did and I was the…"

She gave a sad smile "Victim."

I shake my head. "No, nothing as harsh as victim."

She starts tapping on her device again before putting it away. "Tracer would say something different."

I nod. "Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. She isn't any different."

"What were you doing just then? On the rectangular device I mean."

She looks at me quizzically before understanding. "Oh, I was just tweeting some of my followers on Twitter."

"Twitter?"

She shakes her head. "I don't even know why I bother telling you these things when you don't even know what I'm talking about."

I touch up a little on the spot I was just working on, I get up and look at the progress I've done in the past few hours. The outside of the ship was almost done but there was still some internal things that need to be fixed.

"There you are."

Hana and I turned around to see Lena just now walking in the docking bay. I wave to her as she starts to run to where I am standing. She blinked into my arms and holds me in a bone crushing hug. I just laugh and hug her back. "Morning Lena, sorry I wasn't there when you woke up."

She hums before she looks up and gives me a peck on the lips. "It's alright love."

I let go and walk to the dropship. "So, what do you think? Time well spent huh?"

She looks at dropship in surprise. (whistle) "Holy moly, the ship is almost fixed."

I lean against the ship. "Not quite, there are still a few spots that are need to be worked on and there is still some internal problems that are needed to be fixed. We also need to repaint it too."

She walks over to the ship and feels the smooth surface of the new armor plates. "Yeah, white and grey are poor colors for a beauty like her. She needs some personality."

I nod and look between Lena and Hana. "So, what now? I'm planning on taking a break for now. I might go get something to eat, might go do some training later."

For the first time since she walked in here, she finally noticed Hana. She gave her a cold stare. "Oh, it's you."

Hana took a breath for a second. "Yeah, sorry about earlier."

I clasp my hands together. "Well, you two need to straighten some things out so I am going to go."

I start walk away from the two but before I leave, I stick my head in the door. "No killing each other while I'm away. Bye love, bye Hana."

 _(Tracer's pov)_

I watch as he leaves the door when I got here so soon. I guess he thought it was appropriate for Hana and I to be alone if we were to try and 'get along'.

I want to yell at her, cuss her out and call her every bad word I can think of. I mean she practically **molested** Courier, who does that? She has no right to touch him, he is mine and mine alone! No exceptions, no substitutes, no nothing!

Why am I acting so… possessive over him. I love him and I want nothing bad to happen to him. I want him all to myself and what she did yesterday threatened that. Courier left us alone for a reason, to get along so that we wouldn't want to kill each other at the first sign of trouble. No matter how small that trouble was.

I look over to the girl to my right. Well here goes nothing…

"So Hana, about yesterday…"

 _(Courier's pov)_

It feels good to finally be able to sit back and relax, thinking that everything is going to be ok. I left Lena and Hana alone together so they could not kill each other. Winston, Reinhardt, McCree and Mercy are who knows where and me… well I'm just relaxing in a reclined chair I found in the firing range. Simply eating and drinking some well earned food and water.

"Hey Courier!"

I nearly crushed the plastic bottle in my hands as I am bothered when I specifically came here to relax. Being the good person that I am, I turn behind me to see who called me.

I turn around and see Mercy running towards me with a clipboard in hand. It is also good to mention that she has a slight scowl on her face. I guess I pissed her off somehow? I tip my hat. "Doctor."

She stands right next to my chair with a stern look on her face. "Courier, you have some explaining to do."

I take a sip of my water. "Explain what?"

She flips the clipboard around to show me multiple pictures of my x-rays. Very evident that you could see my prosthetics and my implants. Also a few shards of the bullet that entered my head too. Doc Mitchell said he only got most of it out, not all of it. I look down at the x-ray before looking up. "Nice picture."

She points to the various objects inside my body. "What are all of these? You have multiple foreign objects inside your body and you have **no** spine. How did they get there and why have you not come to see me about the bullet shards inside your head?"

I shrug. "Those are my prosthetics and my implants. They make me better in almost every way so I could do a better job at not dying. They weren't cheap but after all the years of wandering the wastes, you stack up quite a bit."

She gives me a small look of disbelief. "You and me are going to the medbay to get a closer look at these 'prosthetics and implants'. You also need to go through a proper medical test so I can treat you better the next time you get hurt."

I finish my water and food. "Alright. I wasn't doing anything anyways."

 _Ten minutes latter_

Right now, I'm currently sitting on one of the hospital beds in the room. Mercy is performing the usual test a normal doctor in the wasteland would do. Checking temperature, blood pressure, eye sight, the usual stuff.

After checking my eyes light sensitivity. She pulls out a stethoscope. "Alright, I need you to lift up your shirt please."

I grab the hem and pull it up, revealing my abdomen and some of my pectoral region. Her face paled when she saw all of the scars and faded skin. "First time seeing them?"

She puts the cold stethoscope on my chest. "Second actually, I just don't like seeing people in pain."

I take deep breaths a usual for this test. "I'm not in any pain now."

She moves the stethoscope around my chest. "They must have hurt."

She moves onto my back region. "They did, some more than others."

She moves the stethoscope one more time, listening deeply. "I'm sorry, if I made you feel uncomfortable."

I pull my shirt back down as she writes something on her clipboard. "I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Lena."

She finishes writing and looks at me. "And what's that?"

I look down to the long jagged scar running down my forearm. "Every scar tells a tale. They are here to remind me where I've been, What I've done. They are here so I don't forget."

She nods before looking at her clipboard. "Alright, we have a few more test and you can go and run back to Lena."

I nod as she walks over to one of the locked cabinets and pulls out a vial with an IV tube connected to it. "Alright, we need to check your blood type. We wouldn't want to accidentally poison you now would we?"

I hum in approval as she sticks the IV tube in my arm and blood starts to fill up the vial. Once its fill, she grabs some gauze and puts in over the wound. She grabs a little bit of medical tape and tapes the gauze to the wound to stop the bleeding. "Alright, I want to a cat scan and a few more x-rays on your implants and prosthetics."

I nod and get up from my seat on the bed and follow her to one of the locked doors in the room. Once I stepped in, she stepped through another door in the room with the cat scan. She walked over to one of the doors with a see through window but before she stepped out, she stuck her head back in the room. "I'm going to need you to strip your clothes."

I take my hat and duster off. "How bare?"

"Down to your boxers or briefs. There are gowns in the cabinet to the right if you are uncomfortable with that."

I nod and take off my shirt, boots, pants, and my bullet necklace. Leaving me only with my boxers and pip-boy

"You Also need to take off your pip-boy please."

I stop and look down at the device on my arm before looking back at the mirror. "Alright, if you look away."

She nods and turns around. "Alright, let me know when your done."

I start to unlatch some of the locks on my pip-boy and slip my hand out of the glove. Since this is only the MK3 pip-boy, it has more than one lock and is a lot more heavier. I set my pip-boy with the rest of my clothing. For the first time in a long time, I could see the rest of my left forearm. It was pale, paler than the rest of my arm. I look back to Mercy. "Alright, you can turn around now."

She turns around. "Alright, now could you lay on the bed. These test will be over shortly."

I nod and lay down on the bed. As soon as I got comfortable, the bed started to slide into the cat scan. The machine was humming as it did its work. After a few minutes of laying there, the bed started to extend back out. While she wasn't looking, I grabbed my pip-boy and put it back on. I then divert my attention to the screen in the back of the room she was in.

I could see various pictures of my bones, body structure, every implant, every prosthetic, everything on the inside of my body. Mercy had a mixed look, mostly composed of giddiness and surprise. She looks to me. "Your biology is different."

I put my pants back on. "How so?"

"Your bones are denser, far denser than any normal person. It would take a large amount of force to break your bones. Your body has also grown onto your prosthetics and implants in such an unusual way. Some kind of tissue has grown around the connections between you and the machines."

I put my shirt back on. "How can you see that? I thought it only shows my x-rays and other things. Not a direct map of my body."

"It actually does map your body because it can see what your body is doing. Your body is acting like your heart and spine were never cut out and it's working at a far more productive level than it should be for a normal person."

Must be my heart. It is probably the antitoxins and other things in my bloodstream. It makes me impervious to any poison and venom in the wasteland. My spine, I don't know what that actually does besides making me stronger and more resistant around the torso area. It doesn't mean my ribs or sternum can't be broken but it does make me more resilient.

I put my boot and duster back on. "So, what now?"

She starts typing something on the computer in the room. "You are free to go back to doing what you were doing before. Unless there is something else you might need from me?."

I put my hat on. "Well, there is one more thing but we can talk about it latter."

She nods. "Of course. Come by again whenever you're ready."

I smile and wave as I walk out of the room. I just hope that Lena and Hana haven't killed each other.

 _Five minutes latter_

I walk into the door and see Lena and Hana actually having a civil conversation. Guess I really lucked out.

They haven't noticed me so I snuck up behind the both of them. "Hey."

They both practically jumped out of their skin when I spoke. The looked a little pissed while I was just laughing my ass off. Lena hit my arm. "It was not funny! You scared the shit out of me you bloke!"

I keep laughing for a little bit as she blushes from embarrassment. I eventually stop and wrap arms around her. "Sorry I scared you. It was just too good to pass up."

(sigh) "I forgive you, but don't think I won't get you back for it."

I kiss her cheek and let go. "I can live that."

I look between Hana and Lena. "So, are we all good here? No more hard feelings and no more wanting slit each other's throats in their sleep?"

They shake their heads. "Naw love, were all good. Just a _misunderstanding_ but we got that all sorted out."

Hana nods. "Yeah, it took a little while but we have reached an understanding."

I nod in approval. "Good, now to the matter at hand. Does anyone want to go shooting with me?"

They both looked at each other before immediately raising their hands. "That's what I thought."

I walk out the door as Lena and Hana follow me to the firing range. I press a button to talk to Athena. "Hey Athena."

" _ **Yes Courier?"**_

Could you please set up the targets after we shoot them?"

" _ **Yes I can, is there anything else?"**_

"Nope, thanks for asking though."

I look in front of us and I can see a variety of targets lining up, ready for us to demolish them.

I pull out my All-American and look to Lena. "Ready to start off where we were last time?"

She nods and takes the rifle, checking the magazine to see if it's loaded before shouldering it. She aims down the sights. "I'm ready when you are."

I press a button and start sending targets out for her to shoot. "Fire when ready."

She hits the gun's safety switch and soon enough, she was firing shots off left and right. Some of them missed and some of them hit but this isn't about accuracy but getting a feel for the weapon. Once she was out, she handed me the rifle. I eject the mag and put it in my inventory for latter use. "Alright, how do you feel about shooting it?"

She shrugs. "It was fun but my accuracy wasn't very good."

I pull out a fresh mag. "That's alright, this was about getting a feel for the weapon. I'm not going to give you a gun and expect you to have perfect accuracy the first time."

I put the in and pull the receiver back. I hit the safety switch and hand the rifle back to her. "Now try and hit more of the shots if you can."

She starts shooting again and this time she was more accurate. She hit ninteen out of the twenty four shots on the targets. She hands me the rifle back. "Great job Lena, you are getting better after every try. Maybe you will be a better shot than me one day."

She blushes a little. "Thanks but there is no way I could be a better shot than you."

I cross my arms. "That is debatable."

Hana taps my shoulder to get my attention. "Yeah Hana?"

"Can I try shooting some of your guns?"

I nod. "Alright but go grab whatever firearm you normally use, I need to see what weapons you would be more comfortable with."

She nods and leaves to get whatever weapon or weapons she uses. I look back to Lena and hand her the rifle and a fresh magazine. "You saw me load it right?"

She nods and takes them both. She ejects the empty magazine and puts the new one in. She reaches to the side of the rifle and pulls the receiver back, loading it. She shoulders the rifle again. "Alright, knock em dead."

She nods and aims in again. She fires of shots faster and more accurately, hitting twenty one of the twenty four shots. From the looks of things, she is hitting the second and third ring of the target which is good for a beginner.

I hear footsteps behind me and I turn around to see Hana walking behind me with a handgun. "I'm back, did I miss anything?"

"No, not really. You should have seen Lena's shooting though. She almost hit all of the shots on the targets."

I point to the gun in Her hands. "You mind handing it over to me? I need to see where you would be starting at because It would be a shame to give you a gun and have it break your arms due to recoil."

She nods and hands it to me. "Alright, just please be gentle with it. I modified it myself."

It was different from most I have seen but not entirely uncommon. It was small, lightweight, but most of all it was pink with a animal logo on it with a keychain attached to the bottom. The sights look functional.

I raise the gun up and start to fire at the targets, hitting each of the heads dead in the middle. I continue to fire until the gun stops shooting, guess I used up all of the ammo.

I hand her back the gun. "Alright, your weapon has around the kick of a 9mm handgun."

She nods. "Yeah, I only have it for a last resort weapon if my mech is destroyed or too damaged to keep going."

I pull up my pip-boy. "Have you shot anything other than your pistol?"

She nods again. "Ive shot rifles, shotguns and PDW's. I'm not really meant to be outside my mech on the battlefield so the Korean army only taught me CQC weapons."

I pull out Vance's submachine gun. "Alright, but were are to change that soon so you are familiar with all types of firearms. You never know when the situation demands it."

I put the gun on safety and hand it to her carefully. "Alright, knock yourself out but don't break my gun. There aren't any spares around here."

I look to Lena who has been waiting patiently. I pull out my survivalist rifle. "For waiting patiently, you get to fire my survivalist rifle."

She claps enthusiastically, practically bouncing in place. "This is going to be fun."

I chuckle at her enthusiasm. "Not as fun as you think."

I pull back the receiver and grab the bullet that came out. "This is a 12.7mm, as you can see this a big bullet. When the enemy see a bullet like this, I can guarantee you that they will shit a chicken."

I hand her the bullet to inspect. I turn around to Hana who was looking for something on the gun. "You can fire anytime you like."

"I can't find the safety switch."

I point to the switch above the trigger guard. "Its right above the trigger guard. Down means safety, up means no safety."

She nods and begins to fire short controlled burst from the automatic weapon. I look back to Lena and she hands me the bullet. She has an uncertain look on her face. "You all right Lena?"

She rubs her arm nervously. "I don't know if I should shoot it. It looks like it might hurt if I do."

I pull out the magazine and put the bullet back in. I do the same thing for the rifle. "Don't worry so much. It will shoot like a dream once you get the hang of it."

The uncertain look still remains. I shake my head and laugh. "Alright, how about a demonstration then?"

She vigorously nods. I get in firing position and look to Hana. "Hey, you might want to pay attention for a moment."

She puts the gun on the stand in front of us. "Ok, I ran out of ammo anyways."

I start firing off shot after shot, managing the recoil and acquiring each target as the recoil meets my body. Once I'm out of ammo, I rest the rifle on my side. "Did you two see what I did?"

Neither one said anything so I continued. "I used the recoil to acquire each target. Since the 12.7mm has more recoil compared to the 5.56 or 3.08, I could use the push to aim at the next target. This is only useful against lightly armored enemies because a bullet caliber this size will rip right through almost anything."

Hana raised her hand. "Yes Hana?"

"So you shouldn't use your little 'technique' on more heavily armored opponents?"

I shrug. "You can but I wouldn't recommend it. They could survive the first shot so that means you need to keep shooting. It will bruise your shoulder if you keep shooting in the same spot continuously, it will especially won't help if there are more than one of the same opponent with the same armor that could resist the 12.7mm."

They nod to each other before lena raises her hand. "Yeah Lena?"

"Who gets to shoot first?"

I put a hand to my chin and scratch it. "I'm thinking of a number between one and three."

I look at Lena. "Two."

I then look at Hana. "Three."

I reload the rifle and hand it over to Hana. "Sorry Lena, number was three."

She grumbled something incoherent at Hana as she smiles deviously. She shoulders the rifle and gets in firing position. She starts to 'attempt' to mimic the same technique I used.

I walk over to Lena and hug her from behind. She was still a little angry that Hana got to go first. I kissed her cheek as her face got flushed. "Don't worry Lena, you get to shoot something cooler if you'd like."

"Depends, what is it?"

I put my head on her shoulder. "A grenade launcher."

I could see a little bit of the smile on her face. "Cooooooool."

I chuckle. "If you think that's cool then you should see some of the other stuff I have."

She hums. "Sounds dangerous, it's going to be fun."

"You bet it will."

I look at Hana to see she just finished shooting, guess she hurt her shoulder a little since she was rubbing her probably tender shoulder. She hands me the rifle as I look at the targets she shot. She hit each of them but her accuracy was starting to slouch a little on the last four targets. "You did good but your accuracy was starting to lack a little bit on the last four. Did you hurt your shoulder?"

She nods as she keeps rubbing her sore shoulder. "Yeah, your gun has a hell of a kick. Pwns noobs but man does it hurt latter."

I nod and reload the rifle before handing it to Lena. "Alright, now it's your turn."

She nods and gets in position, I give her a quick thumbs up and she smiles confidently. She starts to fire at each of the new targets. I could tell that the recoil was having an effect on her but she was holding strong. Once she was out she rested the rifle next to Vance's submachine gun. She turns around and looks to me. "So, did I do good?"

I noded. "Yeah, you did. You hit eight out of the ten with good accuracy."

She smiles but then cringes, rubbing her hurt shoulder.

I grab the guns and put them back in my inventory. I take a moment to look at the time and I see that it's 9:43 PM. It feels like such a short day but a lot of time already went by. I put my pip-boy away. "Its starting to getting late guys, do you want to keep going or we going to call it quits tonight?"

Hana points back to the dorms. "I'm going to call it quits for tonight. See you two latter."

I wave to her as she leaves. "See you latter Hana."

Lena waves too. "See ya love!"

She leaves and that just leaves me and Lena here.

…

…

…

"Can we shoot the grenade launcher now?"

I pull up my pip-boy. "Pump or single?"

She makes a small shrug. "Either ones fine."

I pull out Thump-Thump and a normal pump grenade launcher. "Alright, ready to learn explosives?"

"Are you certified?"

I make a mock scoff. "I'm a self certified demolitions expert, I take my job **Very** seriously."

She giggles. "I bet you do love."

I pull out a few 40mm grenades and stack them on the table in front of us. "Let's blow some stuff up."

Lena couldn't have been anymore happy to oblige.

 **There we freaking go! I got another chapter done and I am sorry it has been taking so long. I have been busy dealing with life and the cards it deals me. But hey, I got another chapter done. I also appreciate "A fan" and "Another fan" for being good supporters just as everyone else. You are all great and patient with me.**

 **Also, this story isn't dead until it's finished or until I say it's dead. I can't always work on a new chapter every single day but I do what I can when I can. As always, I'm open to new Ideas to add to the story so feel free to say something in the comments.**

 **Remember to comment and review so I can do a better job at writing. -Paladin Leroy**

 **P.S. Who should be recruited next?**


	26. Training and briefing

_(four hours later, Courier's dream)_

I walk a road of rubble and ashes. The corpses of the marked men and other creatures lay behind me in horrific fashion. I'm in a hell that never ends and will never die.

Another marked men ravager tries to charge me. I pull out Dinner Bell and shoot him once, knocking him down. I put the barrel of the gun up to his head and pull the trigger, making sure he stays dead.

I stare at the decimated face of an already decayed body. It was all my fault that he is like this. it's my fault that he suffers from this disease where the only cure is death.

I walk away and dismiss the thoughts plaguing my mind. I need to reach the end of this road and find **him**. I know he is here, in the Divide. He must be waiting at Ulysses temple, making me go all the way through the Divide again to torment me on my greatest mistake.

Another marked man tried to attack me but he only met the end of my shotgun. He dropped dead like the rest. I put more shells in Dinner Bell and keep going. I'm not sure how far I will get? I can't bear to look at what lies ahead of me, let alone what I've left behind.

I can only take this step by step. I can't lose my head and I can't lose against **him**.

I continue to walk this Lonesome Road and I pray that whatever lies at the end is not as bad as it is here… or worse.

Thousands of steps and hundreds of bodies later, I'm standing at the entrance of Ulysses Temple. This has to be the end, there is no where left to go.

I open the doors and walk the corridors and rooms until I reach the elevator to take me to the bottom of the temple. I step in and let the elevator take down. This journey has been tiring, for both the body and mind. I can't take it…

Everything this that has happen and will happen is because of me. If I didn't take that detonator here then maybe this place would be a hopeful civilization and the people wouldn't be suffering.

I don't even know why I think about the past anyways… It won't change a damn thing. The marked men will still roam and scavenge the ruins, the tunnelers will always be in the underground waiting for the next thing to enter their domain.

The elevator stops and opens, showing me the room where Ulysses and I fought together. Standing where he stood was the architect of my internal suffering. He doesn't even deserve to stand there, not where he stood. I pull out my revolver and unload every bullet…

...except for one.

I walked to where I once stood. He turns around with a sinister grin on his face. "Oh hello, it took your ass long enough to get here. Enjoying the sights? Maybe the smell and atmosphere? Charred corpse and decaying people has quite the strong _scent_ …"

I don't respond and give him a blank face. He scoffs and walks down the steps. "I did all of this for you, I thought that you would be excited! You got to take a stroll through this wonderful land of rubble and decay."

My eye twitches and I could feel an almost instinctual growl. He shakes his head. "You don't want to say anything? Normally you would have attacked me or at the very least say something."

He scowls at me. "Maybe I'm not trying hard enough?"

"Maybe you aren't."

He shakes his head starts to laugh. "Buddy, do you know why I picked this area in particular? The Temple specifically."

I clench my fist. "It's the farthest area away from where I began. You made me start there to make me suffer."

He starts walking back and forth in front of me. "Your wrong and right because I didn't make you come all the way here to only suffer… I want to show you what I would have done if I had control back when you were talking with ulysses."

I look at him skeptically. "Show me what?"

He walks over to the terminal and pulls a lever. Erecting nuclear missiles from all around me. Just like last time… OH shit! He is going to do what Ulysses did not!

I run up and push him from the terminal but it was too late. He already set the missiles off to wherever he sent them. As he fell to the floor below me, I only could watch them leave the silo and destroy whatever lands it touches.

"Its beautiful…"

I stare **him** down. "If this was real, do you know how many people you would have killed? The amount of land burning with radiation?! It would have ruined everything!"

He props himself up on his elbows. "But that's the thing… none of this is real. Even if I wanted it to be, it isn't. I hate you for that because you had the perfect opportunity to wipe everything away not once but TWICE! You could have done it here and you could have done it with Elijah if you said the right words! But no, you had to play hero and save the day and get the loot at the end of the journey."

I walk over and kick him while he's down. "I did the right thing! You're just a peice of shit who doesn't understand the value of INNOCENT life!"

He spits out some blood. "You know that hurting me will get you nowhere. I will always come back."

I step on his torso harshly. "You may torture me every time I come back here… but I get some fulfillment in killing you every time I leave."

"How long does that fulfilment last?"

I draw my revolver and aim it at him. "Long enough to think things through."

He shakes his head again. "Why do you keep doing this? I will always come back to make your dreams and soon your life a living hell. I will always come back no matter what you do or what you say."

He struggles to chuckle but manages while still pinned under my boot. "What will they think when they hear that their ally, their friend is slowly going insane? What will they do?... What will you do?"

He looks up.

"What will **she** do?"

I look at the gun in my hands. "Hopefully she won't find out."

I shakily put Lucky's barrel under my chin. **He** looks at me surprised. "I'm shocked that you thought of doing this. I mean this soon, really? I expected it at least a few days latter, a week at most."

I pull the hammer back and cock it. "I've got to try something. This just came in mind."

He laughs a little before coughing and hacking. "You know what? Go ahead and do it but I want you to remember something."

I cock an eyebrow as he continues. "You will never get rid of me. No matter where you go, I will be there. I will be waiting… watching… until we meet again Courier"

"Yeah, until we meet again asshole."

I pull the trigger and everything faded and became a blare white void.

 _(Courier's pov)_

I jolt up, breathing erratically. I look around and see Lena's dark yet colorful room. I wipe away some sweat that formed on my forehead. I look next to me and see Lena sleeping soundly. I grab my things and gut up from the bed, keeping my noise to a minimum to not wake her.

I step out of the room and head to the firing range, there was a training room next to it. I need to let off some steam.

 _Ten minutes latter_

I hit another bag across the room, tears and gashes leaking sand from constant abuse. I walk over to the closets and put another one up on the chain connected to the ceiling. I start hitting it, building up speed and strength after every hit.

It didn't take long for the bag to start to tear under the hits and get knocked across the room next to the pile of other destroyed bags.

"Rough night?"

I look over and see Reinhardt leaning against the doorway. "I didn't expect anyone to be up at..."

I pull up my pip-boy clock. "At five in the morning."

I put my pip-boy down and look back to him. He was currently out of his armor and is wearing a black T-shirt with flecktarn woodland combat pants with boots. He walks over inspects the various training bags across the room. "It must be rougher than I thought…"

I shake my head and go to grab another punching bag. "I can't sleep well. No matter how the dream ends, I will just und up going back there…"

Reinhardt looks confused. "There?... Where is 'there'?"

I set the next bag up and start hitting it again. "It doesn't matter."

He puts a hand on my shoulder and stops me from hitting the punching bag. "It does when it causes my comrades to hurt themselves."

I give him a confused look. "But i'm not hurting myself."

"Look at your knuckles."

I look at my knuckles and see that they are bruised and torn. They were letting off a slow stream of blood. I pull out a stimpack and inject it into my arm, immediately healing my injured knuckes. I look up at Reinhardt. "This proves nothing."

"No, it proves that I am right. Something is clearly bothering you and you can't sleep because of it. It doesn't help that you are tired and you look like shit if you don't mand me saying."

I look away and look at the punching bag. It had smudged blood on it. I raised my fist to start punching again.

Before it hits, he catches it. "If you wont stop then I'll make you stop."

I pull my hand out of his grasp. "I don't want to fight you Reinhardt."

He nods. "Good, then stop doing this to yourself."

"I'm not finished yet."

He growls in frustration. "You are being foolish Courier. You are hurting yourself over a bad dream."

I scowl at him. "The hell would you know? You have never been where I've been through, seen what I've seen. Ive walk through lands scorched with radiation, I've killed hundreds of thousands just to stay alive in god forsaken desert. Ive have done atrocitus things in the past that I would give anything, ANYTHING to forget!..."

"...But I can't."

I look down at my scarred hands and arms. "I will be stuck with the sins of the past for the rest of my life. I just want the nightmares to end…"

I feel him put a hand on my shoulder. "I… get what you mean Courier. I too am tormented with the horrors of the past. I have a way to forget or at least put it the back of my mind."

I look up. "What is it?"

He chuckles a little. "It is friends, family, loved ones, people who matter most to you. Focus on them and the nightmares stop."

He removes his hand from my shoulder. I close my eyes and try to focus on the people who matter most to me. My followers, ED-E, Rex… Lena.

I open my eyes but as soon as I do that, I regret that I did.

 **He** was standing there, smiling deviously at me. Reinhardt was gone, it was only me and him in here. I feel my hand inch to my revolver. He smiles wider and begins to walk towards me.

I pull out my revolver and pull the hammer back, he stops and stares at me. My finger was twitching on the trigger.

" _Co….r..."_

He takes a step closer and my finger starts to pull. I can feel my breathing escalate, almost hyperventilating.

" _Cou...r…"_

He takes another step closer, my finger still ever twitching on the trigger. I can now hear my heartbeat in my ears.

" _Cou..er…"_

I close my eyes, keeping the gun raised. Chanting to myself.

"He's not real, he's not real, he's not real, he's not-"

" _COURIER!"_

I open my eyes to see a concerned Reinhardt. I look down to see I have Lucky loaded and pointed in a random direction. I put the hammer back in its default position and holster it.

"Did I… Did I almost just…?"

He nods grievously. "Yes, you almost did but do not worry. You are not the first to go through something like this. Some of my comrades have even pulled the trigger at me."

I give him a deadpan look. "That is unsettling but aren't you worried?"

He nonchalantly shrugs. "No, not really because I have faith in you. But I would like to recomend going to see Dr. Ziegler soon, she can help you."

"How can she help me?"

Walks up to the boxing ring and sits on the edge. "It depends how bad the situation is but it is never out of her expertise. She will help you like how she helped me many times."

I nod. "I will keep that in mind and I'm sorry, I shouldn't have freaked out like that."

He shakes his head. "It is ok, I do not judge you."

I look back at the hanging training bag.

"Don't even think about it."

I look back to him. "Well what else am I supposed to do?"

He looks at the ring he's sitting on. "Fight me."

"What, why?"

He points to one of the hand-to-hand training bots. "I was going to do some training but I think it would be better with a real person rather than a bucket of bolts."

I chuckle. "Alright Reinhardt, it's your fault if you get hurt."

He climbs in the ring as I do the same. "That sounds like a challenge."

He walks over to a terminal that appears from the floor of the ring. "Athena, can you do us a favor and start the timer and countdowns?"

" _ **Of course Reinhardt."**_

"Thank you."

He hands me a pair boxing gloves. "This doesn't seem like military training to me."

He put his boxing gloves on. "You're right, it isn't standard training but it is a good and honorable sport."

I put my boxing gloves on. "Alright, I always wanted to go a few rounds against you in a fight."

"Any rules?"

He puts his fists up. "No foul play, no shots below the waist. We are going to fight until one of yeld or one of us is knocked out."

I put my fists up. "Okay, let's go."

The bell chimes and we approach each other, neither of us backing down.

 _(Winston's pov, three hours later)_

I walk to the dorms and make my way to Courier's room. Once I made it, I knocked on his door. I got no responce so I knocked again more loudly. There was still no response, guess he's not there.

I look to the room across from his. Lena's room is the next best guess, I need to talk to her anyways.

I knock on the door and I start to hear rumbling behind the door. The door opens and out comes Lena, with her disheveled hair, white shirt and sweatpants. "You (yawn) need something big guy?"

I nod. "Yes, we are having a mission briefing that I'm going to need you to attend. Is Courier in there too? I need him to attend as well."

She shakes her head and stretches. Naw love, He was here but he must have gotten up a while ago. Wanker, he was warm too."

I rub my face in frustration. "Do you at least know where he went?"

She shakes her head. "No, don't know where he went. He might be working on the dropship again or could be at the firing range."

"Well, could you help me look for him then?"

She nods. "Sure, just give me a moment to get ready."

She shuts the door. "I'll be back in a jiffy."

A few minutes latter she comes out in her usual overwatch attire. "Alright, let's go."

We left the dorms and headed to the docking bay. I haven't see the dropship since we landed it back here, I didn't expect it to be almost finished. "Wow, you two have worked fast."

She shakes her head and blinks to the top of the dropship. "Nope, I didn't help him do this. He did it all by himself. Too bad he didn't wake me up to help him though, I really wanted to."

I look to the side of the room and see Hana working on her mech. "Hello Hana."

She didn't respond, I walk over to her and I try again. "Hello Hana."

She still didn't respond. I look to the side and I see that she had headphones in. I tap on her shoulder and she juts up. She pulls out her headphones and turns around gives me small scowl. "Seriously Winston? You scared the crap out of me."

I smile a little. "I need you to attend a mission briefing once everyone is present."

She picks up her phone and headphones. "Where is the briefing going to be?"

"It's in my lab in a few minutes. Also, have you seen Courier or Reinhardt at all?"

She nods and starts to walk out. "No, see you in a few."

On her way out, she waved to Lena. "Hey Lena."

She waves back from her seat on top of the dropship. "Morning Hana."

I look to Lena. "Well, he's not here so let's go check the firing range."

I nod and she blinks back down to the ground. We left the docking bay and head down to the fining range. The only one there was McCree, shooting his peacekeeper and smoking cigars. He notices us and tips his hat to us. "Howdy you two."

Lena erratically waves and I nod in acknowledgement. "Hello McCree, were going to have a mission briefing once everyone is present and we need you to attend. Have you seen Courier or Reinhardt by any chance?"

He points to the room behind him. "They are in there but be careful, it's like watching two wolves tearin' each other apart."

Lena glared at him. "Well, why didn't you stop them?!"

He leans against the stand blocking him from the targets. "It's not how you think Len-"

"What if one of them gets hurt?!"

He puts his hands up defensively. "Dont worry, Im sure they are fine."

She pushes past him, her face forming into a menacing glare. "If Courier is hurt then I'm coming for you…"

He held a small look of shock and fear. "I'll take your word for it pardner."

I follow Lena to see that Courier and Reinhardt were fighting but not in the sense we thought. They were fighting in the boxing ring, both bruised and bloody but not horribly disfigured.

Lena has a disapproving look. "Courier, why are you fighting Reinhardt? You are clearly hurt and you look exhausted."

He keeps Reinhardt on his feet, sending a barrage of punches and jabs at him. "I needed to blow off some steam but Reinhardt stopped me. Look in the corner and you'll know what I mean."

We look in the corner to see dozens of destroyed punching bags across the room. Some of them have dried blood on them. I was surprised how many he tore through but Lena however…

She was a bit ticked off.

She runs to the edge of the ring. "Courier, why are you fighting till you hurt yourself?! You know I hate it when you get hurt!"

He dodges and jabs Reinhardt in the side. "I know and I'm sorry. I need to think something's through and working helps me think."

Courier dodges a few more jabs and takes a step back. Both of them were panting. "Courier… how long have we been fighting?"

He looks at his pip-boy. "Around an hour and a half."

Reinhardt puts his fists up. "Well, it's time we finished this… but let me tell you something."

"What?"

"Our honor demands one of us to win and IT-"

He rushes Courier.

"-WILL NOT-"

Courier is put on the defensive against his attacks.

"-BE ME!"

He sends a punch at Courier but he spins on his heels, dodging Reinhardt's punch. He sends a right hook and hits Reinhardt so hard that he gets sent to the other side of the ring, effectively dazed and on the brink of unconsciousness.

Reinhardt tries to get up but her struggles before giving up. "I yield Courier… you win."

He takes off his boxing gloves and extends a hand to Reinhardt. He takes it and he helps him up. "Good game eh?"

Reinhardt laughs before coughing a little. "Yes, that was a very good game. We have been fighting for quite a while. You are one of the few people who beat me in a boxing match. Next time, we should fight with weapons next. That could be fun?"

Lena climbs in the ring. "How about no, you two look like hell and I don't like Courier getting hurt. ."

She walks over to Courier to tend to him as Reinhardt sluggishly climbs out the ring. Before he leaves, I stop him. "Reinhardt, I need to talk to you for a moment."

He walks or I should say stumbles to a bench in the room. He sits down. "Alright, what do you need Winston?"

"We are going to have a mission briefing soon so I would like you to go to my lab in a few minutes, you obviously need it."

He nods. "Alright, in a few minutes."

I smile a little. "Good, thank you."

 _(Courier's pov)_

Lena was currently checking my cuts and bruises. Her expression is one of concern and anger. "I have told time and time again that I absolutely hate it when you get hurt."

"I know."

She rubs her eyes with her eyes in frustration. "I don't know what to do with you sometimes. You keep getting up early, earlier than me. I think something is bothering you?"

I freeze for a moment. Shit, she is starting to get suspicious. "There is nothing bothering me Lena. I just had a bad dream, that's all."

She stops rubbing her eyes and looks me dead in the eyes. "Love, promise me something?"

I lean forward a little. "Yeah Lena?"

She puts a hand on my cheek, caressing the small bruise on it. "Promise me that if there is anything, no matter how big or small it is, you will talk to me about it. I want to help you but I can't if you won't let me."

I put a hand over hers. "I will, I promise."

She smiles and kiss my forehead. "Thanks love."

I briefly look over to Winston and Reinhardt. "You know, I think you missed a spot."

She gives me a playful smile. "Oh yeah, where would that be?"

"I think Reinhardt hit me in the mouth. You think you could kiss away the pain?"

She giggles before she leans in and kisses me. After a second or two, she pulls back. "Better?"

I smile. "Yeah, I don't even feel it."

She backs up a little." Good, now Winston needed to tell you something."

"What?"

She points to the door behind her. "We have a mission briefing in a few minutes so we need to go."

I nod and climb out of the ring. I lend a hand out to her and help her down. "Your such a sweetheart."

I put my duster and hat on. "For you and only you."

She holds my hand. "As it should be."

We head to the door but before we left, I look back to Winston. "Hey, we will be in your lab with the others."

He nods in acknowledgment.

I look at Lena. "Alright, let's go hun."

I scratch the back of my head. "Uhh, yeah. I've heard people in the wasteland use it before with loved ones so I thought of trying it but I can stop if you want."

She shakes her head slowly. "No, it's fine. It's just weird but..."

I raise and eyebrow. "But…?"

She leans into my side, blushing a little. "But I like it."

I wrap an arm around her. "Are you sure? I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable."

"It's fine. It's just that Hun means something a little different when it comes to romantic relationships. I'll tell you when we have time."

I nod. "Alright."

She hums in approval as we walked to Winston's lab. Once we were there, we saw that Genji, Mercy, McCree and Hana were here.

"Howdy folks."

McCree tips his hat as I tipped mine back, Angela waves and says hello, Hana was busy on her phone and Genji nodded. I took a seat while Lena grabbed the closest seat next to me.

"Courier?"

I look to Mercy. "Yeah?"

"Why are you bruised and cut up?"

"I fought Reinhardt in the boxing ring."

"For what reason exactly?"

I shrug. "Training I suppose?"

She raises an eyebrow. "Training that gets the both of you hurt? I guess that's understandable but I'm sure there are more effective training than beating each other senseless."

"You learn from the pain."

She shakes her head. "That sounds… barbaric."

"It works though."

(sigh) "I guess but you better let me know if you get hurt with your 'training'."

I look to the others. "Does anyone know what the mission is?"

Everyone shakes their head, except for one. "Do you know what the mission is Genji?"

He nods. "Yes, I do."

"Well… what is it?"

He shakes his head. "We will wait for Winston to go over this mission."

I grunt and lean back in my chair. I takes my hat off and run a hand through my hair. I look to Lena. "What do you think the mission is?"

She gives me a halfhearted shrug. "Messing with Talon and saving the day? That's usually what we do."

I hold her hand. "Yeah, that's what we normally do. Maybe we are going on another recruitment mission?"

"Maybe? We will just have to wait and see."

A minute or two passes by until Winston an Reinhardt walked in.

Winston walked over to his terminal. "Hello everyone. Now that we are all here, we can discus and go over our next mission."

He presses a button on the terminal and a hologram pops up. "We are going on a recruitment mission for an omnic named Zenyatta. He is a member of the Shambali monks, a society of humans and omnics whose goal is to release the tension between the omnics and humans and get them to live in harmony."

He pressed another button and a map popped up. "From what Genji told us, he is heading to back to the Shambali temple in Nepal."

He looks to Lena and I. "Once the dropship repairs are finished, we are going to the temple to try and recruit Zenyatta to join Overwatch."

He presses another , this time showing a map of the mountainous regions of Nepal. "It should be an easy flight but we must stay alert, there has been reports of Talon activity in Northern India, Bangladesh and southwest China. They could know of out intentions in Nepal but that would be unlikely."

He types something on his terminal. "For this mission, I would like Mercy, Genji, , Tracer and Courier. McCree, Reinhardt, you two are going to stay here and help me protect Gibraltar."

They nod.

Winston clasped his hands. "Alright, any questions?"

Nobody raised their hands. "Good."

He looks back to Lena and I. "I would like you two to start working on the dropship and get it fixed as soon as possible."

I nod while Lena gave him a mock salute. "You got it!"

We get out of our seats and head to the docking bay. "The only things left to do is work on some internal problems, put some new armor plates on, fix the engines, fix the hover system and fix the landing gear."

She nods. "Alright, doesn't sound that hard so let's get to it then."

I smile and wrap an arm around her. "Alright hun, we've got work to do."

 **Hey guys, I've got another chapter done. Sorry these things have been getting less frequent but hey it's done! I've been very busy this week and last week. Work and school have been filling up my time and I've been working on this when ever I have any to spare.**

 **Also, I'm thinking of doing a small time skip in a few chapters. I feel that this story is moving a little slowly and I thought I could do that to speed things up a little. Say something in the comments if you want me to do this or not. I'm fine with whatever decision you guys and gals make.**

 **Another thing, I'm always trying new things and I am always open to new ideas. If you guys recommend something for me to integrate into the story then that is fine. If it's something could change a good bit of the story then I will put it to a community vote. I want to feel like everyone has a voice to say an Idea or suggestion.**

 **Remember to comment and review so I can do a better job at writing. -Paladin Leroy**


	27. Author's note

**Hey everyone! I would like to start this off by saying i'm sorry. I haven't been very active in writing this and I haven't done much for this story in terms of updates. I have been very busy these past few weeks and I really don't have much time to myself as I used to. I saw a recent comment and that got me thinking… They were right. My writing sucks and my chapters are bad. Some of you guys might say otherwise but that's just how I feel. I want to make this a story I can be proud of, something that everyone can read and not be confused or be disgusted by my writing. I want to make changes and they will take a while to do.**

 **With that said… I am asking if anyone would like to help me write this story and be my co-writer. If anyone is interested then please say something in the comments and we can talk. I only ask that you have some experience at writing and have at least written a fanfic before or have assisted in writing one. Have a happy day/night!**

 **-Paladin Leroy**

 **P.S. Thanks for the insight and the criticism friend. I think I needed it.**


	28. Slipping at the seams

_(Courier's pov)_

I take out more shrapnel and connect loose or torn tubing or wires. I deposit the broken parts and scrap in a bucket next to me to keep the floor clean. I grab a new armor plate and replace the destroyed one.

I wipe a small bead of sweat off my forehead and move to the final part I need to fix. The landing gear has been a bit sticky and have been going through some malfunctions; while I work on this, Lena has been working on the engines and the majority of interior components that were damaged.

I grab a few of the dropship jacks and set them around the ship before setting them up. I set all the jacks to synchronize when one of them are activated. I walk over to the side of the ship and I see Lena working on the engines. "Lena, I'm going to jack the dropship." I tell her.

She look backs to me and nods. "Alright love."

I walk back to the jack and press a button as it begins to set it 5 feet in the air. I grab a toolbox and spare parts before heading under to the belly of the beast. I start with the ones in the front and inspect the damage. From what I could see, the casing around the shacks were riddled with holes and the shocks were on the verge of giving out. I take out one of the hand held plasma cutters and cut away at the shocks casing, letting it fall to the floor with a thud. I start to disconnect the shocks and slowly remove it so I can replace it and see if there is any other damage further in the landing gear.

I set the broken shocks down and turn on my pip-boy light so I can have a better look at the interior. Everything seems to be alright asides from some stray scrap with the occasional nuts and bolts. I remove the junk metal and reconnect the new shocks and weld the casing back on.

I do this with the other four sets of landing gear with the few loose wires and tubing in the landing gear. Once finished, I turned off my pip-boy light and walked over to Lena. "Hey, I finished with the landing gear so I'm going to set the ship back down." I say to her as she puts the final plate on the engine.

She nods. "Ok, I just finished up on the engines so go right ahead." She says with a tired smile. Can't blame her for being tired, we've been doing this for hours with little to no breaks.

I head to the jack and press the lover button, letting the dropship slowly descend to the ground until the landing gears is taking all of the weight. I grab each jack and set it back to where I found it. I lean up against the side of the dropship and let out a tired sigh. I look over to Lena as she set the rest of her tools back before joining me on my seat on the floor.

She rested her head on my shoulder. "Well, we finished." She says.

I nod. "Yeah, now all we've got left is repainting and this ship."

She sighs and snuggles closer into me. "That will be done another day because I believed we deserve the rest of the day off. Perhaps we could go grab a bite to eat and go do something?" She proposes.

I pull up my pip-boy inventory and take out two bottles of water. I hand her one and she drinks it as I do the same. "I'm alright with that but what do you want for food and what do you want to do after?" I ask.

She shrugs. "I'm fine with anything and after that, maybe we could watch another movie?"

I put an arm around her and give her a kiss on her head. "Alright, I've got something in mind for food." I say to her.

We sit there for a few more minutes before we grudgingly get up and head to the cafeteria so I can go prepare us something. Lena sits down but not before give me a happy smile as I walk into the kitchen.

I rinse my hands from any grease and grime from the ship. I pull out two slabs of coyote meat, two fair sized potatoes and my wasteland spices. I grab a spatula, two sheets of tinfoil, some salt and two knives. I rub the coyote meat in the spices before throwing them on the grill. While those cook, I take some of the salt and put it on the tinfoil. I reach for the potatoes and take them to the sink so I could rinse off any dirt that may be on them. After that, I put the potatoes on the two pieces of tinfoil and wrap them right before throwing them on the grill.

I pick up the spatula and flip the slabs of meat over, revealing the well cooked side emitting a pleasant smell. I continue to cook until both the potatoes and coyote steaks are done.

I grab two plates and some silverware for us to use and set one cooked potato and one coyote steak on each. I unwrap the tin foil and cut open the potatoes before I walk over to the fridge and grab the butter and put some in the holes I made. I pick up the plates and carry them out of the kitchen. Lena was still sitting there, almost ready to pass out.

I set the tray in front of her, knocking her out of her tired day dreaming. "Hey, you ok? You looked like you were ready to pass out." I ask her a little softly.

She nods and yawns a little. "I'm alright, just a wee bit sleepy that's all." She says a little tiredly.

I nod and set everything up for us while she just stares at the food somewhat curiously. "What is it this time? Mutant deer, two headed pig?" She asks out of amusement.

I chuckle and shake my head. "No, just some coyote steaks with baked potatoes. Is that alright with you?" I tell her.

She smiles and picks up her fork and steak knife. "Of course it's fine. Can't say I've ever had coyote before but I'm always up for new experiences." She says with renewed energy.

I smile a little before pulling up my pip-boy inventory and pulling out two ice cold nuka-colas. Even though I'm more of a sunset sarsaparilla guy, I don't mind a good cola from time to time. I take the caps off and put them with the other twelve million caps, give or take a few hundred thousand.

I hand her one of the cold soft drinks. "Here, but please let me know if you don't like it. I won't be offended, my kind of food is just different from yours." I say to her.

She nods. M'kay, but I doubt it will taste bad. All of your cooking has been good, great even! I bet you could gives some master chefs a run for their money." She tells me with a confident smile.

We begin to eat our food but when she mentioned money… "Hey Lena?"

She takes another bite of her food. "Yeah?"

"What is your country's currency?" I ask.

"Our currency is in pound sterling, or what most people call pounds. It comes in coins and bills. Why do you ask?" She ask with minor curiosity.

I took another bite of my food. "In the wasteland, our currency was bottle caps, NCR cash and Legionary coins but everything was mainly bottle caps. The cost for just one of my gold bars is worth 10,539 caps. Enough caps to afford as much guns as there is booze in a cassino."

"The wasteland currency is bottle caps? Why?" She asks with a raised eyebrow as she continues to eat.

I shrug before taking a sip of my drink. "I don't really remember. It was just stuck in my head that it was the currency and I just went with it." I say.

She hums for a moment before pressing on. "Why all this talk about money?" She asks.

I open my tinfoil wrapped potato, still hot on the inside. "I'm just trying to calculating the amount of cash I would get if I exchanged my gold back at the Lucky 38."

She shrugs and takes a sip of her nuka-cola. "Depends on the quality of the gold, the weight and the amount you have." She says.

I nod. "Yeah but the real question is how does one get 1295 pounds of gold in a parallel dimension?"

She gives a joking grin. "I'm sure if anyone could figure that out, it would be Winston."

I give her a sarcastic frown. "I will have you know that I'm am an expert in multiple types of sciences, mathematics and I did see and fix the machine that brought me here." I inform her with a shit eating grin.

She raises her eyebrow. "I would love to see you go at it at the white board. I could just imagine what sciency things you two would cook up in that lab."

I laugh. "You have no Idea what we could create in the lab. I even know how to make mini nukes the size of a bowling ball. In fact…" I trail off.

I pull out one of the mini nukes in my inventory and hand her the three pound bomb. She looks at the mini nuke like it was the eighth wonder of the world. She looks up at me. "What in the bloody hell did you people come up with?" She asks with caution and… excitement?

"We came up with mini nukes, laser weapons, plasma weapons, sonic weapons, 12.7mm pistols, gauss weapons, power armor, stuff like that." I listed off.

There was a brief silence between us before my beautiful and bubbly Brit spoke. "Can we shoot it?" She asks with suppressed excitement.

I give an affirmative nod. "Hell yeah, nothing like atomic annihilation."

She almost squeed with pure joy. " I love blowing stuff up!"

I nod. "Well, we can blow things up after we finish eating. These coyotes died for a reason." I say.

After that said, she begins eating with new vigor. Guess she loves things getting blown to smithereens; can't say I blame her though, I love explosives as much as the next guy. You could say I am a demolition expert.

Soon we finished our food and headed to the firing range. Only to be surprised that we weren't the first ones there. There was Mercy, Genji and ; all of which were training with their weapons for the coming mission.

We walked to the stand and stood next to Mercy shooting with her pistol with good accuracy. She notices us and smiles. "Hello you two." She greets us.

Lena waves as I tip my hat and pull out my Esther. "Hey love." Lena replies.

I load a standard mini nuke and take aim at one of the targets a good 25-30 feet away, a safe distance for anyone behind the stand. I pull the trigger and watch the magic happen, as does everyone else. Not like I destroyed everything in front of the stand… oh wait, I did. I could feel the heat wash over me as the now non-existent targets become nothing more than scrap and wasted parts. From the look at everyone's face, they were in shock and awe.

Mercy looked at the explosion for a few seconds longer before looking at me. "How can you carry something like that?" She asks with worry.

I load another mini nuke in the Esther. I am strong enough to carry over 375 to over 400 pounds everyday. I get even stronger just by walking with all of my guns, ammo, food, medical supplies and just about everything else in my pip-boy." I explain to her.

She looked appalled by the newly received information. "If you can carry that much weight, how are you still standing under all of that? Surely your body would have gave out under all that pressure?" She questions.

I shake my head as she just looks at me stunned. I look over to Lena and hand her the modified fat man. Her legs buckled under the heavy weight for a moment before settling in and adjusting her stance. "Oi, this thing is really heavy. I have no idea how you do this but love, color me impressed." She says under a little strain.

I smile with a small amount of pride from the compliment. "Thanks."

I tell her the basic controls of using a fat man and the safety range of an ordinary mini nuke shell. She aims in and fires at one of the newly set up targets. More heat from the explosion washes over us as the target is no more. Lena let's go and gives me the modified fat man back. "That was fun but wholly moly was that thing heavy." She says as she rubs her shoulders a little.

I rest the fat man on my shoulder. "It wasn't too much was it? If it was, I would have taken more of the weight." I say in a caring voice.

She waves her hand dismissively. "Naw, it's alright love. I'm a tough girl." She says, striking a pose.

I chuckle and look over to Mercy. "You wanna try?" I gesture to the Esther.

She shakes her head. "N-no thank you but thanks for asking."

I look at the others. "Anyone?" I aks as everybody declined except for one.

"Mind if I try?" asks with a confident smirk.

I nod and load another mini nuke. I wave to her to come over here and get her in firing position. She tensed up as the sudden weight hit her but she adapted to the weight. "Lena, you weren't kidding when you said this was heavy." She says jokingly.

I give another run down on the weapon basics for . Once I finished, she aimed in and fired. Yet another mini nuke lost from my ammo count; spent for the enjoyment of others. Not that I'm complaining much, if it makes everyone happy but more importantly Lena happy then I'm fine with shooting a few just to see the stars in her eyes.

I smile and take in the smell of burnt metal and spent radioactive material. I walk over to and grab the Esther before putting it back in my inventory. "Well, unless anyone has anything to say. I think we're done with mini nukes for now."

Everyone agrees and Lena looks somewhat satisfied with the explosions she witnessed. She looks to me with her very contagious grin. "So, what next?" She asks.

I shrug. "I don't know, what do you want to do?" I ask right back.

She points a thumb back to the door. "Want to watch a movie?" She asks hopefully.

I nod. "You know, that sounds nice right about now."

She takes my hand and drags me back to her room and I was all the happy to follow.

 _A few hours latter_

We are currently laying on her bed watching episode five of Star Wars. Boy do I wish we had something like this back in the wasteland; It would have made waiting for hours on something more bearable. I watched as Luke and Darth Vader were fighting on a catwalk until Vader cut his his hand clean off. We watched as Luke screamed in pain and clutched the wound; no blood came out so the lightsaber must have cauterized it.

I laugh internally because it would have saved me a couple of clean shirts if I had one of those and the sound those things make are hands down cool.

We kept watching after Luke escaped Vader's grasp by jumping and eventually getting rescued by Lando. He was later taken to another ship and got a new prosthetic hand. A few minutes latter and the credits start rolling.

I rub my eyes from watching the screen for so long before looking down at the now sleeping Lena, snoring lightly on my chest. I smile and shake my head at the cute display. I reach over and grab the nearest blanket, wrapping it over us before turning in for the night.

 _Six hours later_

I open my eyes, breathing heavily, heart pounding in my chest at the latest nightmare I endured. I heard a small groan before a grip tightens around my torso. I see lena still sleeping, just a little disturbed from the sudden noise.

I sigh in relief that I didn't wake her. The last thing I need is for her to know about the skeletons in my closet. I rub my eyes with my free hand before slowing removing myself from the bed. I heard Lena groan again, likely from the lack of warmth I emitted. I pull the blanket back up over her and grabbing all of my things before heading out the door.

I give Lena a parting glance as I slowly close the door. I walk down the hallway and head to the docking bay to make sure the dropship was working at full capacity or at least to make sure it's flyable.

I walk through the docking bay doors and use the manual release lever to open the dropship door. I walk in the dropship and head to the cockpit before pressing the button to call Athena.

" _ **Good morning Courier, how can I be of assistance?"**_ Athena greets.

I pop my neck. "I need you to run a diagnostic on the ship to make sure it's in working order. If anything is wrong then please say it." I ask.

" _ **Affirmative, please give me a moment."**_ She says.

The cockpit goes silent for a few minutes as Athena checks the ship over for anything we haven't fixed.

" _ **I have detected no problems with the ship and it should run at full capacity."**_ She informs me.

I smile a little in approval before nodding. "Alright, Thank you Athena." I tell her.

" _ **You're welcome Courier."**_

I head out of the cockpit and sit on the extended dropship door. What to do now? I look around the docking bay in hopes of finding something to do. I keep scanning the room until my eyes land on a workbench with some tools, ready for use. I pull out Lucky and give it a once over before looking back at the workbench.

Lucky does look a little dirty, perhaps some gun maintenance will keep my mind off things until the mission starts?

I walk over to the workbench and begin working my gun nut magic.

 _One hour later_

I finish cleaning and repairing my 27th gun with the scrap and spare parts I have on me. I put the gun back in my inventory and pull next one out. This one being my automatic rifle I found in the Sierra Madre casino. The ammo it uses is some what expensive but it will put a big hole in anything it hits.

I was about to disassemble the rifle but I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked behind me and saw Lena's ever smiling face, tired albeit. "Morning Courier." She greets.

I put the rifle back down and turn to look at her. "Good morning to you too Lena." I return the greeting.

She wraps her arms over my shoulder and rests her head atop of mine, being careful enough to keep the chronal accelerator from digging into my back. She sighs in content as I continue to work.

"I didn't see you when I woke up."

I sigh. "I'm sorry Lena. I had things on my mind but it's nothing you need to worry about."

She tightens her grip. "It's fine but I worry for you sometimes. When I don't see you in bed sleeping and find you working or training. It makes me feel like something is bothering you and I can't help if you don't tell me." She says in a saddened voice.

I put my dismantled gun down and take her hand and kiss the back of it, rubbing it gently in my hand. "It's really nothing to worry about Lena, just another bad dream is all." I say in a comforting tone.

"You're having a lot of bad dreams Courier." She says sullenly.

I nod. "Yeah, but I can work through them, like I have been" I try to reassure her.

She turns my seat around and gives me a stubborn look. "Courier, you promised me that you would let me help you. You _promised_ me, and I don't take promises lightly."

I nod slowly. "I know but I don't know if I can tell you. It hurts just thinking about it and telling you might make you… make you…" I trail off.

She rests a hand on my cheek, staring intently into my distant eyes. "Make me what?" She asks a quietly as possible.

I close my eyes to rid myself of the hurtful thoughts. "I don't want to talk about it…" I tell her in a dead voice.

I open my eyes and I can see the disappointment on her face, she can see that I'm hurting inside. She lets go of me and I look back at my disassembled gun on the workbench. "The mission is starting in an hour so I would get cleaned up soon if I were you." She says to me in a plained voice. No happiness, no sadness, just a flat voice that makes me feel worse than I already do.

I nod as she walks away to who knows where. I keep cleaning my guns, trying to to keep my mind busy. Once my automatic rifle was done, I moved onto the next gun.

"She's right you know." A voice chimes from the silence.

I turn and see the monster in my head. Standing next to the workbench as smugly as ever.

"You should tell her what you dream about at night. Tell her that you're a fucking crazy, seeing things when you're awake. If it makes you feel better~" He says sarcastically at the end.

I scowl at the gun in my hands as I keep working. He takes this a sign to continue.

He leans against the workbench. "You keep hurting people don't you? You're afraid that you're hurting her now. You're terrified that If you tell her, it might hurt her more than not telling her? Or maybe it's something else?..." He goes off.

My breathing starts to escalate as he keeps taunting me. "You're afraid of hurting yourself if you tell her or anyone for that matter about you!? That's it, isn't it!? You're a selfish little shit that's afraid of telling people what goes on in your head. You're scared of your past and more importantly…"

He pulls me around and looks intently at me with a horrible grin.

"You. Are. Afraid. Of. Me." He says, drawing out each variable of each word.

I push him of me and pick up my freshly cleaned .45 auto submachine gun, quickly putting a fully loaded magazine in the gun and turning the safety off. I don't even aim at him before unloading every bullet in my gun into him. I keep holding the trigger as he lays there on the ground. I let out a small breath and I look away from the body and put the gun back on the workbench.

I take a seat back into my stool.

"Nice try…" I cold voice speaks out.

My eyes open and turn to look back to him only to find him right in front of me. He grabs my wrists in a tight grip as I struggle to break free. "-But If you think that killing me will stop this, then you are poorly mistaken." He growls out.

His hold on my wrists tighten to the point I feel my hands going numb. "I know that my hands are stained with the blood of innocent people but when was the last time you looked at yours!?" He yells at me, throwing out of my stool and across the floor. I look back to my hands to see something horrible.

My hands were red, stained with blood. To the point that it was dripping on the floor and all over myself. I look back up but I don't see the monster; I see the rotting corpses of dozens of people. Some of which have been burned beyond recognition. The floor turned to sand and dust, the walls became non-existent as destroyed buildings took their places. I could feel the heat coming from the air and hitting me in the face. The sensation of pins and needles biting my skin.

I rub my eyes with my duster's sleeve to make sure this isn't real. I felt something hot next to my ear. "But don't worry so much Courier…"

I look to my right and focus on my tormentor, trying to ignore the raging sounds of screaming and gunfire.

I noticed Lucky wasn't in my holster and was in his hand, pressed against my head. He shakes his head, chuckling to himself. "...It's only your imagination." He says to me, before pulling the trigger.

In an instant, the world around me went white and I noticed I was still on the ground. I looked at my hands and saw no blood staining them. I looked around the room and saw spent bullet casings and fresh bullet holes riddling the ground. I climbed up and sat back in my stool for the third time.

I watched everyone rush in through the door, fear and worry present all over their faces. WInston was the first to speak out of all of them. "What happened?" He asks seriously.

I give him an impassive look. "It was a small weapons misfire. The receiver and magazine were stuck and the safety was jammed, I was trying to fix them. I accidentally hit the trigger and that got stuck too and I guess you can figure out what happened next."

I felt something at the bridge of my eyes and wiped it away. Strange, I don't feel like I'm sweating.

Mercy and Lena press forward. "Are you alright? Did you get shot?" mercy asks, checking me over for any visible wounds.

I shake her hands off me and put the gun back into my inventory. "Im fine, its nothing to worry about." I said coolly as I walked over to the dropship.

I pulled the manual release on the door and climbed in. "If anyone needs me, I will be in the dropship until we are ready to go." I told them.

"Actually, that's why we were here." Winston says to me.

Everybody started climbing aboard the dropship however Lena and Mercy were give me worried looks as they passed by. I can already feel the questions and disappointment coming from Lena. I looked on as she kept walking cockpit of the dropship.

I felt a tap on my shoulder. "Courier, are you sure you're okay?" Winston presses.

I look back to where Lena was." I'm fine." I answer simply.

"Then why were you crying?" He asks, raising an eyebrow.

I frown. "It was some of the gun smoke getting in my eyes." I lie.

His face says he wasn't convinced but he accepted what I told him anyways. I climbed aboard the ship, ready to get this mission over and done with. There is something important I need to talk to Lena about, something that leaves me distressed just by remembering it.

I shut the door and take a seat as the dropship begins to slowly hover above the ground before taking off, just like all the other times. I look around and see everyone engaged in something. Genji with his meditating, toying with her mech, Lena flying the ship, and Mercy probably talking with Lena considering that she isn't down here.

I walk over to and watch what she's doing with her mech. She opened up the glass barrier to the inside and was currently installing something much to my confusion. I keep watching as she keeps working and sooner or later, she saw me. "Oh, hey Courier. How's it hangin'?" She greeted me.

I shrug. "Nothing much, just seeing what you were doing." I tell her.

She laughs a little. "Standing over someone definitely isn't creepy." She say jokingly.

I rug the back of my neck. "Sorry, I wasn't trying to disturb you or anything, just wanted to see what you were doing. Looks like you were installing something." I say.

She nods. "Yeah, I was just putting in some recording equipment in the mech. The CO's at MEKA wouldn't dare let me take pictures of the battles I was in, even less stream it."

I cock my head in confusion. "Stream?"

She looks at me weirdly. "Do you not know what streaming is?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Does it have anything to do with water?"

She shakes her head. "No, but how do you not know what streaming is?" She asks incredulously. Guess she forgot where I'm from.

…

…

…

"Hana?"

"Yeah?"

"You do realise I have been in this world for little over a week right? My world doesn't have the type of equipment you guys have because most of it was vaporised 200 years ago or it wasn't invented." I explain to her.

She rubs her eyes. "We need to work something out in terms of the difference between our society and technology. I Keep forgetting that you aren't from here."

I hum in thought. "Well, after this mission we could work something out. It would be nice to learn new things." I say in mild eagerness. It would be nice knowing more that what I already do.

She nods and gets back to working. I look over her shoulder and examine the 'camera' She's installation. "So what is streaming?" I ask.

"Its when you record something for people to watch the exact moment it's happening."

I hum in thought. So it lets people watch what happens when it happens? Interesting but what if she watched people get hurt, god forbid killed?

"Hana?"

She looks over her shoulder. "Yeh?"

I scratch my prickly 5 o'clock shadow forming on my face. "I don't think streaming what we are doing is such a good idea. The viewers would be watching us killing people, plus the governments of the world could be watching too and I don't think we can deal with them yet." I express my concern.

She shrugs. "Don't worry too much. Winston has that covered and besides, it's what everybody wants to watch these days."

I close my eyes for a second. "All right, as long as it's cleared with Winston and it doesn't get us killed."

She waves her hand. "It's fine just chill."

I sigh. "Whatever, I'm going to talk with Lena." I tell her, walking up the stairs to the cockpit.

She gives a mock salute and goes back to her mech. I press the button to open the cockpit door but instead, Mercy opens it and walks out, giving me a solemn look as she passed by. I look back inside and see Lena, still flying the ship. I step inside the room and sit down in one of the seats next to her. She doesn't acknowledge my presence.

I take my hat off and put it on my lap. "Look Lena… I'm sorry."

She doesn't look at me. "For what?" She asks, even though she already knows.

I look down at my feet in shame. "For being a selfish prick. I haven't been fair to you and I have been keeping things from you in the attempt of protecting you but now I realize that I was only protecting myself."

I rub my face with my shaking hands. "I-I need to tell you b-but I can't." I stutter out, almost on the verge of a mental breakdown.

I hear Lena turn on the auto pilot. She rests her hands on my face guiding me up to look at her. "It's okay Courier, it's okay." She tries to calm me down.

I look long and hard into those caring hazel eyes. "I can't sleep." I mumble out.

She rest her head on mine. "I know, but I need you to tell me what's bothering you. I- we can't help unless you tell me what's doing this to you, please."

I close my eyes. Its him, the man who was me before I was shot in the head. I see him when I sleep sometimes, just glimpses but now… but now he is hurting me from the inside out, he knows what i'm thinking and sees what I'm doing. It's only been a few days and I'm already going crazy."

She holds me tighter. "It's going to be alright, after we get Zenyatta we will get Mercy to help you." She says in the lightest voice I've ever heard.

My eyes close tighter as tears threaten to drop from my eyes. "It's not just when I'm sleeping, he is there when I'm awake. He haunts me like a looming shroud, staring and watching and as soon as I'm alone, he taunts me. Tormenting me, threatening to kill you, Winston and everyone I know. I almost shot Reinhart because of him and if anyone was in the docking bay when he showed up…" I shudder as I let a breath out.

I look up and I see a look of pity. "He says I'm afraid of him but Im not, I'm afraid of what he is going to make me do." I say to her.

Her grip on my never faltered, only it strengthened. I'm sorry love, I knew this was bad but I didn't expect this. I just wish you came to me sooner and not during a mission but… "

She made me open my eyes, forcing me to look at her, forcing me to look at her small but noticeable smile. "If it's important to you then it's important to me. Courier let us help you, we can do this together." She calmingly says to me.

There was a heavy silence as I keep my breathing under control. "I-I need help. I don't want to hurt you or anyone because of a voice in my head. I was afraid you would be mad at me keeping something like this from you."

She kisses my head. "Oh I am a little ticked but you had your reasons and I can't fault you for that. You need help more than a scolding." She says to me.

After a moment or two she lets go of me as i reluctantly did the same. I lean back in my chair and look at my hat, the same one that has been with me since the beginning. I don't bother looking up. "So I've told you what's wrong with me and I'm sorry if you think any less of me."

She looks back out of the windshield of the ship. "I don't think any less of you love, you are troubled and what kind of girlfriend would I be if I just let you deal with this on your own? A lousy one." She reassures me.

I thought back on how hard it would be to tell her and how easy it really was. I start to chuckle before laughing. Lena notices this and smiles. "What's so funny?" She asks.

I wipe the tear out of my eye. "I find it funny that I was terrified of telling you this and I was absolutely certain that you would hate me. I find it funny on how easy this was or how understanding you are. I'm just a paranoid crazy now, and I find it funny." I say before laughing again.

Lena however, looks concerned. "You're not crazy, just troubled." She says with a stern voice.

I put my hands up, still chuckling to myself. "All right, all right, I'm a troubled man with the best and absolute sweetest girl on Earth."

I see her smile at the end, god do I love that smile. "Now that's much better and don't go selling yourself short. You have been through a lot of shite and you should be treated better."

I put my hat back on and I shrug a little. "I was made to be durable and I'm starting to wear and tear just like my duster. In fact, after the amount of things that I've see, Im suprised on how I am barely sane." I say with a sarcastic edge.

She shakes her head. "I don't know either but after all the tension, nothing calms me down more than music." She says cheerily.

I look at her in confusion. "This thing has music?"

She nods. "Yeah, you want to listen to some?" She asks in an attempt to relieve the stress from earlier.

She presses a button and a pleasant sound starts playing with a steady beat and an erratic rhythm. I have never heard of anything like this. "Lena, what kind of music is this?" I ask.

She bobs her head with the beats of the music. "Its electronic music, more specifically trap music." She answers.

"What kind of instruments do they use to play this? It sounds like nothing I've ever heard." I question, swaying my to the rhythm.

She shrugs. "I don't know, computers and stuff like that. Now no more questions." She tells me as we sit there quietly.

I lean back and relax to the sound of this "trap music" playing. Ignoring the worry of the future with my team and I. You know what they say, Ignorance is bliss.

 **Hey everyone, I am deeply sorry that I haven't updated any of my stories in a while. I have been busy and all around unmotivated at times. I know that saying these things for my ignorance to you guys and gals don't make up for it. I will try to get more chapters out this summer. I would also like to say thank you to everyone that has waited long enough for me to post another chapter. Thank you, all of you.**

 **I am always open for suggestions if you have any. If it is something major however then it will be put to a vote. I will also consider the idea of having someone from Overwatch getting stuck in the Mojave, possibly the Capital Wasteland if I play the DLC for Fallout 3. I want to get more chapters done for this story and Specimen 17.**

 **Something worth mentioning is that Courier and the team will meet Zenyatta. I have an idea on how its going to go but if you guys have any thoughts then let me know.**

 **Remember to comment and review so I can do a better job at writing. -Paladin Leroy**


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